It Says It in the Stars
by lilyevans06
Summary: How do the stars, two necklaces, and a Jane Austen novel get Lily and James together? Curious? Read on! New Chapter up!Later chapters reflect the information learned in Deathly Hallows.
1. Returning Home

**DISCLAIMER: Since I am not, J.K. Rowling, I know its sad, but I unfortunately do not own these lovely characters that you recognize. Or any Harry Potter related items that you may recognize. I 'm just interpreting how these people may have led their lives along with some made up characters of my own.**

**Chapter 1: Returning Home**

Lily Evans bid her best friends good bye at the train station before heading to see her parents. This summer was going to be different because Petunia had gotten married at the end of Lily's fifth year while Lily was busy with her O.W.L.s. Petunia had done this on purpose so Lily would not be able to attend her wedding she "insisted that Lily needed to stay at school so as to not fall behind in her schoolwork." John and Crystal Evans were disappointed but understood seeing as how Lily and her sister did not get along all that well--that being an understatement. Neither parent wanted to ruin this special day for one of their daughters.

Lily shuddered to think of the past summer holidays when Petunia was home. Petunia was always spying on Lily but claimed she wasn't and was always yelling when something weird happened and immediately blamed it on Lily. At least now Lily only had to see Petunia and her horrid husband Vernon very seldom. Lily remembered meeting Vernon for the first time. He was absolutely, terrifyingly ugly! She didn't know how anyone could be so ugly, let alone how Petunia could fall in love with this beached whale. She could understand if Vernon was somewhat attractive but other than that he was just dull, like an overused knife. Petunia had told Vernon that Lily was a witch. She really didn't have a choice because an owl happened to fly into the Evan's household and drop a letter at Lily's feet. There was no other logical explanation so Petunia told the truth. He shared Petunia's sentiments--he thought Lily was a freak. John and Crystal didn't like Lily being called a freak and asked that he not call her that ever again in their presence. Lily had gotten used to the word as hurtful as it was. Vernon stopped coming to their house after this incident, which was fine with Lily.

"Welcome home, sweetheart!" exclaimed John Evans as he pulled into their driveway. Lily loved her home. The lawn was green, and there were many different types of trees that lined the front of her house. Lots of flowers too, and a special garden of lilies and petunias--something for John and Crystal. The house was two stories. Lily's bedroom was on the top floor. It was a warm day, but not too bad for June. Her house was made of a grayish tan brick. Lily always thought her house was very pretty.

As a rule, the ride home from the train station never was talkative for Lily's sake. Each parent wanted to give their daughter a chance to unwind and get settled at home before bombarding her with questions.

Lily was thankful for this because she'd rather forget how her summer got started off….James and Sirius were hexing and heckling Snape again and Lily intervened. And his thanks to her was him calling her a mud blood and James tried to be all gallant and make Snape apologize as if that would make things better. She told James that she'd rather go out with the giant squid rather than him. Not that that bothered her, but she always hated having to stick up for Snape and James was always asking her out so maybe she got her point across this time.

She sighed in frustration. "Why can't Potter just leave me alone?" she wondered. She didn't need his protection. She had her other friends. Lily decided to just not think about it anymore. She would avoid this subject like the plague if her mother brought it up. Seriously, her mother LOVED James Potter. She thought he was charming and couldn't believe all what Lily said he had done. And his crush on her was "sweet and cute" according to Lily's mother. Lily's past summers would include Lily ranting about the Marauders and their stupid pranks and how many times Lily had been asked out by James. He broke his record this year. Everyday of the entire school year. Lily wanted to scream when she thought about it.

Lily wasn't always frustrated and aggravated. She had plenty of friends to keep her sane. Her prefect duties this year introduced her to someone she had never talked to before, Shawn Austin. He was great fun to talk to. It was a shame that Lily met him at the end of the year, it just so happened that she had patrolling duties with him one night and they just hit it off. He was in Gryffindor, which amazes Lily because she never had talked to him before even though he shared the same boys dormitory with the infamous Marauders. It was nice having a friend that she could discuss intellectual items with or just gossip if she so chose too. She promised Shawn that they would keep in touch during the summer.

Lily decided that she had had enough time to unwind when her mother called that dinner was ready. She couldn't believe that she had spent that much time in her room. Well it had only been an hour.

Crystal Evans decided to make a fancy dinner for Lily's return, grilled steak, baked potatoes, and a strawberry pie for dessert. Lily loved strawberry pie, it was so tasty to her. Dinner time was used for Lily's parents to tell her about her family and local news and the such.

"Did you know Mary Bates was getting a new house?"

Lily said she was surprised since Mary had lived in their neighborhood for as long as she could remember.

"Grandmama and Pater are doing well and send their love to you, Lily."

Conversation continued like this for a bit and then Lily thanked her mother for such an amazing dinner and then she knew what was coming next. The annual family trip to the living room. "Here comes the bombardment," she mumbled.

"Lily, darling, we've missed you so much! Look at how you've grown and you're becoming an even more beautiful young lady," said Crystal.

"Well, how was school, sweetheart?" said John.

Lily replied that school was fine and was interesting because she was learning more advanced magic. "But I am nervous that I may not have done well in some of my O.W.L.s…"

"Owls? What are owls? I know you are not talking about birds surely?" said John laughing.

Lily giggled, "No, dad, O.W.L. stands for Ordinary Wizarding Level. They're tests you take in order to help determine your career. For more challenging careers you need to get at least an E or an O in everything. I am confident that I did well in Charms and Potions, but the other classes are up to debate."

Crystal stepped in, "Honey, I'm sure you did wonderful, we will be proud of you however you do."

"Thanks, mom and dad." said Lily.

"I can't believe that I'll be in my sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Lily thought to herself.

Lily then proceeded to tell her parents about how her friends were. "Gina and Jenny were going to Scotland with Jenny's family and Taylor and Brooke were just staying home for the time being."

"And how are the Marauders?" asked John.

Lily signed inaudibly and answered "as mischievous as ever." Remus was Lily's favorite of the group. James and Sirius were annoying, and Peter, well Peter just gave her the creeps, but she did feel sorry for him. Peter just didn't seem to fit in with the group but they all stuck together like brothers.

Lily felt her mother's gaze on her and she had a feeling something about James was going to be mentioned. She was right.

"You know Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus came by and said hello to your father and I at the train station. They really are sweet boys. Does James still have a crush on you?"

"Unfortunately, yes he does, mother. If he wasn't so conceited, maybe I'd give him a chance, but honestly, I just can't stand to be around him. Remus is really the only one I can tolerate talking too. Sirius is just like James, so immature." Lily replied.

Seeing that Lily wasn't really in a good mood now, her mother suggested they head to bed. Lily was gracious for the idea. But first, Lily told her mother about meeting Shawn. Her mother said, "That's nice dear," and headed to bed.

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2 months into her summer vacation Lily received an owl from Gina. She obviously had just got back from Scotland. Gina was a nice girl, she had a ton of hair that was a dark blonde color and wavy curly and she had hazel eyes. She was very intelligent, friendly and level headed for the most part. She was a great friend, Lily's best friend actually.

Lily,

I hope that you are doing well. I just got back from Scotland, I swear Ithink I've picked up an accent, but you'll have to help me get it to go away! I bet you're having fun without Petunia being home too. Scotland was wonderful. Jenny swears she saw a leprechaun, but I say it was probably just a goblin if anything….but nonetheless, it was beautiful there. I really wished you could have been there too!

Oh, I found you a birthday present! Aren't you excited? One week! I miss you terribly! Her family made me feel welcome. Are you planning to do anything for your birthday? If not, I was thinking we could go to Diagon Alley to get ourthings. Well just owl me back and let me know. I can't wait to see you!

Your friend always,

Gina

Lily giggled, Gina was always so excited! She loved her dearly. "I really haven't thought about what I wanted to do with my birthday." She decided to owl Gina back.

Gina,

I am glad that you're doing well. Yes, life at home is much pleasanter without having Petunia around. I wish I could have been with you at Scotland, too. But, Jenny's parent's asked you. So, that's okay. I went with them last year to France. I haven't thought about what I wanted to do for my birthday, but a trip to Diagon Alley sounds great!

Not much has been going on in my life, just a calm summer. I'm not complaining though. I can't wait to see you either. Maybe we can meet around eleven o'clock at the Leaky Cauldron?

Your best friend,

Lily

Lily decided to send her letter back with Gina's owl Lizzy. Lizzy was a black owl with a white chest, very pretty. Lily's own owl was a solid black owl named Amber, since she had amber colored eyes.

Lily thought about what she wrote to Gina, "a calm summer." She just realized she really did have a calm summer. Petunia hadn't been there to harass her and she had only received one owl from James professing his undying love to her and that he'd throw himself off his broomstick if she didn't say yes to going out with him, but she just sent back that her mind had not changed and the giant squid still had a better chance than he did.

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A tall boy with untidy jet black hair and hazel eyes was walking around the train station looking for his mother. He wasn't looking long when he saw Lily's mother. She was always so nice to him. "Why can't Lily be nice to me like that?" he thought. He walked up to her and asked her how she was and said hello when Remus Lupin and Sirius Black walked up behind him.

"Mrs. Evans, always a pleasure to see you," said Sirius bowing towards her.

"Sirius, it's always good to see you too," replied Crystal laughingly, "and hello to you too Remus, I hope you had a good term at school?"

"Oh, definitely, thanks for asking Mrs. Evans. We had a lot of fun this year pull.."

James began to cough drastically, as did Sirius. Remus realized he was just about to tell Lily's mother they had fun pulling pranks this year. He didn't want to make Mrs. Evans think ill of him, or the rest of the Marauders, especially James. James wanted to stay on her good side, just in the off chance that Lily ever decides to give him a chance. If Lily's mother hated him, he had a feeling things would never work.

Three of the four Marauders bid Mrs. Evans a cheery goodbye as Lily came walking towards her mother. James tried to wave at her, but Lily either didn't see or just decided to ignore him. The latter most likely.

There was still no sign of Melanie Potter as the three boys walked around. "James, do you really think it will be okay for me to come spend the summer with you again?" asked Sirius hopefully.

"Padfoot, I promise you, why would it not be okay this summer?" replied James.

"I just don't even want to go home, I hate it there. The sooner I can get out of that house, the better. Kreacher stares daggers at me and that portrait of that old hag drives me INSANE! Not to mention the rest of my twisted, demented, evil family," said Sirius.

"Listen Padfoot, you need to go home at least one day, just so your mum can see you. Be serious…."

"…But I am Sirius…"

"You should have saw that one coming, Moony." replied Prongs.

"Look, surely you can put up with it for one day, but I see my mum over there. I'll see you guys soon."

Peter Pettigrew, the missing Marauder, having already left just as soon as the crowd emerged from the train station, and Remus on his way home, left James and Sirius to themselves. They both noticed a woman with dark brown hair and hazel eyes coming walking towards them with a gigantic smile plastered on her face.

"James! Sirius! It is so good to see both of you!" shouted Melanie Potter over the crowd of people at the train station, "Sirius, I've had an owl from your mother. She said unless you've decided to change your mind since last summer, you are to come home with me."

Sirius remembered last summer, it wasn't good. He was preparing to go back to Hogwarts when his mother and father asked for him to come down to the living area. Sirius had an idea of what this was about. Regulus, his brother, was there. A family meeting. "Oh, great, just terrific," he thought.

"Sirius, we know how you've disgraced our family in the past, but we're willing to look over that if you are willing to join the dark lord's force like your brother." said Lydia Black.

Sirius was fuming, "Disgrace, DISGRACE? You call me being sorted into Gryffindor a disgrace and my not wanting anything to do with the dark arts? Why, why, you're the disgrace to me, the whole lot of you! I am finished with you all." screamed Sirius.

"You'll be sorry, Sirius, trust me, you will. Just wait until the time of the dark lord comes. You've made your choice." hissed Regulus.

Sirius immediately left and went to James' house for the rest of the summer.

"What a git," said Sirius.

"I'm sorry, what?" said Mrs. Potter.

"Oh, I'm sorry Melanie, I was just thinking about last summer." said Sirius. Sirius loved Melanie very much, she, in all honesty, was like his mother.

"Alright there, Padfoot?" asked James.

"Yea, fine, Prongs." replied Sirius

The ride home was uneventful. James and Sirius were sad to be leaving Hogwarts behind but happy to be home for the summer. No good pranks for awhile. James was sad to be leaving Lily behind too. He winced remembering her words that still stung after a few days: "The giant squid has a better chance than you do!" He decided that he better leave her alone during the summer. James had liked Lily ever since he set eyes on her about five years ago. He loved her long red hair, her almond shaped emerald green eyes that sparkled when she was happy, and her sweet personality, well sweet to others, just not him or Sirius.

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"SIRIUS, WAKE UP!" shouted James as he jumped on Sirius' bed.

"Whaaaat?" replied Sirius, seeing how furious James looked, he instantly shot up, "What's wrong Prongs?"

"Lily still refuses me! I mean it hurt the first time she said the giant squid would be a better boyfriend, but the second time…" said the black haired boy.

"Eh, Prongs, maybe you shouldn't have sent that letter." said Sirius.

"I guess your right, Sirius, I'll just leave Lily alone for the rest of the summer, or at least I'll try to." said James mischievously. Even though he hated Lily disliking him, he still loved to aggravate her, the marauder in him coming out.

With that settled, both boys went downstairs to a wonderful breakfast. Eggs, pancakes with syrup and jam, bacon, sausage, toast, and to top it off, fresh pumpkin juice. After breakfast Melanie was thinking about taking the boys to Diagon Alley, for the sake of the poor house elves' nerves. James and Sirius had been bored and James, Sirius, and bored do not go to together. To say the least, the house elves cooking at all was a miracle. James and Sirius had set up several booby traps. It was a little harder to pull pranks without being able to use magic outside of school. But they managed. They put itching powder on the house elves clothes. "HAHAHAHAHA do you see how they just walk around trying to scratch themselves without people noticing. They don't want to say anything because they think it will offend us. It's great!" choked out James. Sirius couldn't do anything but hold his side from laughing so much. They, also, stacked the pots and pans and had a string tied to one and pulled it when the house elves were standing around. It took much apologizing from Sirius and James to Sissy, their head chef for her to keep cooking at all.

After breakfast was over Mrs. Potter thought it was time to let the boys know they were in for some fun today. "Boys, go get ready, we're going to Diagon Alley today." stated Melanie.

"WOOHOO!" shouted both black haired boys!

"Oh dear, I hope this was a good idea…oh, two owls from Hogwarts, must be O.W.L. results. JAMES! SIRIUS! Hurry up! You each have an owl down here!" shouted Melanie Potter.

James and Sirius came running down the stairs and ran to each of their owls, respectively. James was the first to see his results, "Nine! I got nine O.W.L.s!" Sirius said excitedly, "Hey, me too!"

James and Sirius were very smart, as were the other now sixth year students in Gryffindor, except Peter, but Peter's heart was in it.

"That's terrific, boys! I'm so proud of each of you. This justifies our trip to Diagon Alley. I will buy each of you what you want besides school items. What subject did you each not get an O in?" asked Mrs. Potter kindly.

"Divination," each boy replied at the same time, looked at each other, and then began having a laughing fit. "I still got an E," added James, as did Sirius.

"What may I ask is so funny?" inquired Melanie.

"We predicted our entire way through the entire class," said James unenthusiastically, "we, err, don't respect that class."

"It just seems like a load of …. 'Sirius!' said Mrs. Potter….crock." Sirius grinned innocently at Melanie. She just looked at him reproachfully and told them both to finish getting ready.

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That is the end of Chapter 1! This is my first fanfic, so I hope everyone enjoys it! I am having a blast writing it. I love Lily/James/Marauders fanfiction. Chapter 2 will be posted shortly. Please review. I'd love to hear feedback.


	2. Diagon Alley & Lily's Birthday

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**DISCLAIMER: Since I am not, J.K. Rowling, I know its sad, but I unfortunately do not own these lovely characters that you recognize. Or any Harry Potter related items that you may recognize.I 'm just interpreting how these people may have led their lives along with some made up characters of my own.**

**Chapter 2: Diagon Alley and Lily's Birthday**

Lily had talked to her mother about the trip to Diagon Alley with Gina and her mother said that was fine. So when the day of August 18 came, Lily was ready and excited.

"You're sure you don't care?" questioned Lily as she and her mother approached the Leaky Cauldron.

"No, honey, you can spend the evening with your father and I. Today's your birthday. Enjoy it with your friends. I'll be waiting here at six o'clock. Try not to be too late. Have fun, be careful, and I love you."

"Okay mum, I will, don't worry, I love you too!"

Lily ran out of the car and into the Leaky Cauldron searching for large curly/wavy dark blonde hair. That made Gina easy to spot in a crowd, just like Lily's red hair made her easy to spot. Lily was looking in a far corner when she felt someone pull her into a hug and whisper, "Guess who?"

"GINA PARKS! Oh my stars, you nearly scared me to death! Don't do that again!" said Lily a bit sternly, but then began to laugh, "Oh Gina, it's so good to see you. I've missed you so much."

"As I have you dear friend. Well, Happy 16th Birthday! I don't want to give you your present just yet… 'Why not?' Lily asked…err, umm, because…I'm not ready to. I, err, want to go shopping first." replied Gina mysteriously.

Lily wondered what all that was about, but before she could wonder too long Gina had pulled her into Diagon Alley and began heading for Gringotts. After each girl exchanged their money, well Lily exchanged, Gina withdrew. Gina's family was from the Wizarding world. They headed to Flourish & Blotts to get their books for the upcoming year. Lily noticed that Gina kept checking her watch, but just ignored it. Gina then proceeded to drag her to Eeylops Owl Emporium, The Apothecary, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, The Cauldron Shop, and finally to Gambol and Japes where Gina and Lily saw James and Sirius.

Lily groaned audibly when she saw who it was. She knew Gina didn't like to be rude to people, she was nice like that, so that meant they had to speak. She noticed that Gina gave James and Sirius a "look" before either of them said anything.

"Hi, Lily!" said both James and Sirius sweetly. The next thing Lily knew she was smothered in between James and Sirius while hearing both boys yell, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

When they finally released her from their massive hug, Lily muttered a quiet "Thank you." and then walked behind Gina to keep from getting sporadically attacked again. Lily wanted to tell both boys to never touch her again, but seeing as how they were telling her happy birthday, she thought better of it, just for today anyways. Gina was laughing the entire time. The upside to the commotion caused Lily to get a free item from Gambol and Japes since it was her birthday. She decided to choose a package of Sugar Quills.

James and Sirius were outraged: "You could have picked any prank item and you chose CANDY?" exclaimed James.

"It's blasphemy I say, Prongs, pure blasphemy." said Sirius jokingly.

Gina had realized she hadn't spoke to either boy and immediately said hello to each of them and asked how they were doing. Each replied that they were fine and said they each got 9 O.W.L.s. At this information, Lily's ears tuned in. She was thinking her owl was at home with results waiting for her. Gina said exactly that, "Oh, I guess I left before my owl arrived. But good job boys." Gina and Lily shared E.S.P. sometimes it seemed. Lily had tolerated James and Sirius in her presence much longer than she normally does, so she felt the need to leave the idiots behind.

"So, yea, Gina, I think it is time that we leave." prodded Lily.

"I guess you're right. Well, James, Sirius, it was nice seeing you. I guess I'll see you later." said Gina.

"Of course you will at…" but Sirius stopped when both James and Gina gave him a look.

Lily had noticed that that was the second time that Gina gave a "look" to James and Sirius. Now that she really thought about it, Gina had been acting weird today--rushing her around Diagon Alley and not talking much. Lily came back to reality when she heard Gina saying goodbye to James and Sirius. Lily walked out with Gina without as much as even acknowledging James or Sirius.

Lily decided she was going to get to the bottom of why Gina was acting so weird. "Gina, is everything okay? You seem out of it today. Your just not talking much at all. Which is not normal for you with me. Why, you haven't even told me about your trip to Scotland."

"Oh! Yeah, of course, I'm fine. I , um, just wanted to, uh, get all the boring stuff out of the way , yea, so we could, um, have the rest of the day to talk and do whatever you'd like to do. Yea that's it." replied Gina uneasily.

"And why were you giving looks to Potter and Black?" asked Lily questioningly.

"My, my, Lil, we are inquisitive today, are we not?" answered Gina kidding around, "I'm not trying to steal James from you." Gina loved saying things like that to Lily just to aggravate her.

The effect was just what Gina thought it would be. "Steal Potter? Steal Potter from me? You can steal him and take him back to Scotland and feed him to the Loch Ness monster for all I care. I hate him, Gina. He is the most immature irresponsible person I know. And he won't leave me alone, or quit asking me out..it's really annoying..furthermore he's a toerag." said Lily angrily.

"I know, Lily, I'm just kidding. I'm sorry, I didn't meant to make you mad. Look over there, it's Jenny and Taylor! Jenny! Taylor! Over here!" exclaimed Gina.

The girls said their hello's and how are you's and then Jenny and Gina finally told Lily about their trip to Scotland.

Jenny said, "It was too a leprechaun! I know what I saw."

Gina argued, "Jenny, I highly doubt it my friend. Definitely a goblin. They did migrate there you know, after some rebellion or other in like the seventeenth century."

Taylor jumped in, "Maybe you're both right, maybe it was a leprechaun and a goblin!"

Jenny, Gina, and Lily laughed and agreed that that would work. Jenny and Taylor left saying they had a few errands to run, but agreed to meet up with them later for dinner at the Leaky Cauldron around four o'clock.

Gina and Lily decided to wander around Diagon Alley until four o'clock running into Remus and Peter, and later on Brooke. Again, the usual greeting words were exchanged and said they'd see each other on the Hogwarts Express on the first of September.

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James and Sirius decided to go ahead and pick out their item for doing well on their O.W.L.s before letting Mrs. Potter go off on her own. They had a hard time deciding between Quality Quidditch Supplies and Gambol and Japes. James already had the newest broom available, the Nimbus 1500. His parents bought it for his birthday last year. James and Sirius decided to get 2 different deluxe prank kits from Gambol and Japes.

With that taken care of, both black haired boys promised to meet Melanie Potter at the Leaky Cauldron around six o'clock. They decided to go and get their supplies for the upcoming year. With that accomplished, the boys decided to wander around. James and Sirius remembered that they needed to buy Lily something for her birthday. They weren't walking around for long when they saw Remus and Peter. They had come to Diagon Alley for the same reason-school supplies and to get Lily a birthday present. With the four Marauders back together, they continued their trek through Diagon Alley.

"Moony, Wormtail, what's been going on?" questioned Sirius.

"Eh, not much, I've been resting this week. The full moon really took it out of me last time. But I feel much better today." replied Remus sadfully.

"Don't worry, Moony, we'll be able to help you soon, mate. We all know what animal we're going to be, we, er, just need to work on changing to and from." replied James.

Sirius chimed in, "You know, I have grown dead fond of our nicknames, Padfoot for me since I am a dog, Wormtail for Peter since he's a rat and HAHAHAHA, sorry, his tail looks like a worm, and since James is a stag, Prongs because he has antlers. And all together, we make up THE MARAUDERS!"

Peter added, "Calm down Sirius, we don't want anyone to hear! We'll help you out Remus, don't worry. Oh, but anyways, my mum's been mental here lately with all this talk of the rise of Voldemort. She nearly didn't let me come today with Remus."

"Speaking of the dark lord, look over there." said James with a look of hatred on his face. "It's that git from Slytherin, well one of the many gits, what's his name? He's seeker on the quidditch team and look who he's with. Your dear cousin, Padfoot, Bellatrix Black."

"Oh, that's Mark Nelson. Definitely, he's a jerk. Full of himself and loves the dark arts. But he's awesome as a seeker, I hear. We may have to look out for the Slytherin quidditch team this year, Prongs." said Sirius as though it pained him.

Mark looked over in their direction and noticed the Marauders glaring at him. He approached them and he asked, "Is there a problem, _gentlemen_?" sarcasm dripping from his every word.

"There is now, Nelson." replied Sirius staring daggers at him. Sirius never had never spoke to him before now, well, it couldn't be helped.

James picked up where Sirius left off, "Oh no, _sir_, we were just admiring your long blonde hair. Are you by any chance related to the Malfoys? You have the same slimy look about you that they have. I really don't see what all the girls see in you. Oh wait, that's right, that's just the Slytherin girls…"

Mark pulled his wand out so fast that none of the Marauders were ready for it, but luckily, they were in front of Flourish and Blotts and people were constantly coming in and out. The Marauders had drawn their wands but put them away when Mark lowered his. "You be lucky that we're in a crowded street. This isn't over, _gentlemen_." and with those parting words, Mark walked off into the crowd, presumably into Knockturn Alley.

"James, Sirius, you two really need to control yourselves better." said Remus reproachfully.

"Aww, Moony, it was just harmless fun!" barked Sirius. James seconded the motion. Remus said that he and Peter still needed to go and get their school supplies, but promised to meet them at the Leaky Cauldron later. Remus left and told James and Sirius to behave.

"So, James, now that we've had our dose of fun, let's say we go get Lily a birthday present?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah! Definitely.." replied James brightening upon hearing Lily's name.

Both boys decided to head into Flourish and Blotts since they were standing just outside of it. They both knew that Lily liked to read. So they headed inside and started browsing the shelves. James and Sirius both spotted an extra book they wanted "_Curses and Counter-Curses (Bewitch your Friends and Befuddle your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and much, much more)" _by Professor Vindictus Viridian. James grabbed it and held onto it. Sirius saw, "_An Anthology of Eighteenth-Century Charms_" by Marianne Bennet, and decided that would be his gift to Lily. James eventually found, "_Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charms_" by Sir William Henry. Each boy knew that Lily was very talented in Charms and thought she might find the books interesting. It was very thoughtful of Sirius to buy a considerate gift like that, but considering he considered Lily a friend, even though she didn't consider him a friend, he thought it was a nice gesture, something she may appreciate. And well, James was in love with her, so he definitely would get her something thoughtful.

With Lily's present out of the way the boys decided to head to the best shop in Diagon Alley, Gambol and Japes, well go there again without James's mother.

Of course, they bought tons of candy, and a few prank items. They had been in the shop for a while when the heard the bell ring signaling people had came in. Sirius and James looked up and to James's delight, he saw his favorite red head with her best friend.

James looked over in their direction and saw Gina give them a "look." James wanted to laugh, he wasn't going to say anything, but I guess Gina just wanted to make sure of it. They told Lily "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" James noticed that Lily didn't yell at him and Sirius for hugging her. He figured it had to do with the fact that it was her birthday. All she could mutter was a quiet "thank you." Both boys watched as Lily picked out Sugar Quills as her free birthday present. Gina talked to them for a bit before saying good bye and saying she'd see them later. Sirius nearly let it slip that they'd be at the Leaky Cauldron around four o'clock.

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It was about fifteen minutes past four when Gina and Lily decided to head to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Now you can give me my birthday present, Gina!" exclaimed Lily excitedly.

"You have no idea…"mumbled Gina.

"What was that?" asked Lily.

"Oh, nothing, yea, you'll get it as soon as we get through eating." replied Gina going back to her mysterious voice again.

Lily and Gina walked into the Leaky Cauldron and asked for a table in the back. They walked towards the back room and opened the door. It was dark inside the room so Lily turned on a light. But when she did, she heard a loud roar of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!"

Lily jumped up and down screaming, "Oh my stars! How thoughtful! Gina Parks, this was your idea wasn't it? This is why you've been acting so strangely today. And that would make sense why all of our friends just happened to be in Diagon Alley today. Oh…and that would explain those odd looks you kept giving James and Sirius."

Gina just laughed, "You've got it all figured out, Lily. Come on, everyone is waiting!"

Lily was told to sit at the head of the table with Gina and Jenny on either side of her. And James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Shawn, Brooke, and Taylor scattered about the table. Since everyone was hungry they decided to eat first before Lily opened her presents. Lily was so happy that she didn't even mind that James, Sirius, and Peter were there. Gina actually thought of that and whispered to Lily while everyone else was deep in conversation, "Lil, I'm really sorry, but I think the Marauders would have had their feelings hurt if I didn't invite them, and I mean, hey, it's more presents for you!"

Lily laughed at Gina, she was always so considerate. "It's fine, Gina. I don't even think James or Sirius could put me in a bad mood today."

James stood up and shouted, "PRESENT TIME!" He proceeded to give his present to Lily so that she could open it first.

Lily opened it, looked shocked, and then said, "Why, thank you, Potter, this book looks really interesting." She couldn't believe he picked such a good present out.

Sirius thrust his present at her next. "If you liked James's present, then I know you'll like mine too!"

Lily had the same shocked look on her face. "You're right, Black. I like this, as well. You realize right, that I may learn a few, uh, tricks in here if you and Potter mess with me this year?" replied Lily jokingly.

Taylor bought Lily a cute bracelet that changed color depending on what you were wearing that day, Shawn bought her a diary that would write back to her when she wrote in it, but the neat thing was, she could pick whoever she wanted to write back to her as long as they weren't alive. "Thank you, Shawn, that is such an awesome present!" Lily said. Remus and Peter gave her a camera that took moving pictures. Brooke found out what Remus and Peter got her and went and bought the kit that you used to develop the moving pictures. Lily was excited about that gift also. Jenny and Gina combined their money while in Scotland and bought Lily a pretty green dress robe that would match her eyes. But Gina also bought her something extra.

Lily looked at Gina like she shouldn't have got her something extra but was curious about what it was. Lily opened the package and saw another book. Lily looked at it and said, "_Pride and Prejudice_" by Jane Austen. Lily didn't know what it was about, but by the looks of it, it was a muggle book.

"Lily, before you say anything, I saw it in Scotland in a bookstore and it looked really good! It reminded me of something familiar. I even bought a copy of it for myself." said Gina.

"Thank you, Gina. I'm sure I'll like it. Now, I want everyone to line up so I can take a picture with my camera." Lily yelled for someone to come and take their picture. Lily made sure to stay by Gina and Jenny so Potter couldn't get near her. Lily and Gina took a picture together, and then the girls of the sixth year dormitory took a picture together too. And Lily even made the sixth year boys take a picture.

Lily hated to see the party end, but naturally it was around six o'clock and everyone was coming to pick up their children. Mrs. Potter came up to Lily and hugged her and said Happy Birthday and said she was welcome to come to Potter Manor anytime she wanted to. Lily really liked Mrs. Potter. "It's a shame that Potter can't be more like his mother," thought Lily. When Lily's mother arrived, Gina and Jenny were the only two left, so Lily and her mother waited until their parents arrived which wasn't much longer.

After Lily and her mother returned home, Crystal had a birthday cake prepared for her daughter. John and Crystal Evans sang their daughter "Happy Birthday" and cut into the cake, which had a lovely picture of a yellow lily on it. While eating cake, Lily told her parents about the surprise birthday party that Gina had planned for her in Diagon Alley today. They thought that was really nice and asked her what presents Lily had gotten. She told them and they really like the camera and diary, but when Lily told her that Gina had bought her a copy of "_Pride and Prejudice" _Lily's mother got really excited.

"I love that book! It's probably my favorite book ever!" exclaimed Crystal Evans.

Lily giggled, "Gina told me it sounded like a good book. She even bought it for herself too."

John said, "Lily, now you get to open your present from your mum and I."

It was a huge box, with a bright green bow on top. Lily ripped off the paper to reveal a large trunk.

"Thank you mum, dad! I love it! I desperately needed a new trunk. My other one wouldn't hold everything without my shrinking things.

"It is supposed to have magical abilities," said Crystal, "I had Melanie Potter find it for you and I paid her back. She said you create your own password, say it to the trunk out loud, and tap your wand to it the first time, but after that you only have to think the word and tap your wand." Lily decided to open the trunk to look at the inside. There was a small package in there. It was from Mrs. Potter! Lily opened the package and found a necklace with a star in it. A note was attached:

Lily, I found this and I thought you might like it. I got James one a while back ago, he won't wear it though. I hope you like it.

Melanie Potter

Lily picked up the necklace, it was very pretty. There was a small orb with a little star in the middle. Another piece of paper lay under the necklace:

You are the proud owner of a Star necklace. Your necklace is connected to a star in the sky. Whenever your star is above you, you're necklace will glow green, and your star will glow brighter in the sky. But your Star necklace also has another power. If you and your true love both have a necklace the orb will glow a bright blue. The orb will only glow if it is a deep strong love on both sides, but the catch is, you and your true love must be outside, under the stars with both necklaces on your self.

Lily loved it! She really didn't believe in that sort of thing, but it was still thoughtful of Mrs. Potter. She decided to put it around her neck and go outside to test it out. Just as she thought, the necklace didn't do anything, at all.

Her mother reminded her that she needed to thank Mrs. Potter. Lily thanked them for such a great present and went to bed. She wrote Mrs. Potter a thank you note first.

Mrs. Potter,

Thank you for the beautiful star necklace. I love it! I guess I haven't found my star yet. Maybe I'll find it at Hogwarts, or I hope I do! I hope you have a good rest of the summer!

Thanks again,

Lily

Lily went to bed thinking about what a wonderful day she had and how this was her best birthday ever. While she was laying in bed, she noticed another owl beside Lizzy. It looked pretty ticked off. Lily saw the Hogwarts crest and immediately realized that the poor owl had been there all day. She gave it some owl treats and fresh water and cautiously took the letter without getting bit. The owl seemed to lighten up since she fed it, when it finished eating it flew away. She tore open the letter and found out she had 10 O.W.L.s. She was so excited, but tired too. She would tell her parents tomorrow.

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That's the end of Chapter 2! I hope everyone likes it. Oh, and the characters that you don't recognize are friends of mine, most of them are true to character. I have their permission to be in the story, or they wanted to be in it. And I love Pride & Prejudice! It will be used in the story line somehow. Please review!


	3. Journey to Hogwarts & the Welcome Feast

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I still do not own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with it, wishing does not make it true.**

**Genetic Island: Thanks for the tips! I'm glad you like Lily and James's parents and my story!**

**JkReviewer: Thanks for telling me about the review thing, and I can see what you mean about the "Oh my stars" thing. I watch Bewitched on tv and heard Samantha Stevens say it, and it kind of stuck with me. That show was from the sixties, but the wording and what not probably changed from the 60s to almost the 80s. Thanks for reviewing and I'm so glad you like my story!**

**Chapter 3: Journey to Hogwarts and the Welcome Feast**

Lily was frantically awoken by a screaming woman on the rushed morning of September 1st.

"Lily Marie Evans! Up! NOW! We're going to be late if we don't leave very soon!" Crystal Evans yelled throughout the house while busying about trying to throw together a quick breakfast. "Of all mornings that I could oversleep…it had to be this one!" she could be heard mumbling in the kitchen.

Lily hurriedly jumped out of bed thankful that she had packed the night before. She ran to the loo and took a practically non-existent shower, just long enough to knock the dirt off.

She dressed quickly, putting on a pair of faded blue jeans with the knees starting to fray and a green t-shirt that made her eyes stand out, and, not to mention, she was very fond of green, it was her favorite color. She left her semi-wavy red hair down and put on a small amount of mascara and lip gloss, and began to drag her trunk and carry her owl, Lizzy, downstairs.

"I'd give anything to be able to do magic outside of school this instant." thought Lily as she finally succeeded in getting her things downstairs, with a few bruises as proof.

It was ten o'clock, the train left platform nine and three quarters at eleven o'clock, and it was a twenty minute drive from Lily's house. She desperately needed to hurry.

Lily ran into the kitchen and ate a small breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, and a piece of toast.

The rushed red head finished eating and asked her dad to help her carry her trunk to the car.

About fifteen minutes later, Lily, Crystal, and John Evans were heading to the train station to send Lily on her way to her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Lily, hun, you have a fun term, don't let James get to you. Maybe he's matured over the summer? Stay out of trouble. I know I don't need to say that to you, but most importantly stay safe and write often. We'll miss you, sweetie." said Crystal Evans fighting back tears. She couldn't help it, she always got teary eyed when Lily was about to go off to school; her daughter would be so far from home.

"Lily," John Evans said while stopping the car near a place to get a trolley, "Please take care of yourself. Especially so with all this business about Lord what's his name. I am going to miss my baby girl."

Lily sighed, she hated saying these goodbyes, they tugged at her heartstrings, but she replied hurriedly, "I love you, too dad, and you too mum. I promise to take care of myself, and I'll write often."

John Evans jumped out of the car and fixed a trolley for Lily with her trunk and bird cage on it.

Lily said a final goodbye, hugged her parents, and ran towards the area between platforms nine and ten. She still had five minutes before eleven. She was going to make it.

Lily ran through the barrier and immediately went to the train to drag her things aboard.

With that behind her, she went in search of her friends. Gina, Jenny, Brooke, and Taylor were all in a compartment about halfway down the train.

Upon seeing Lily, Gina got out of her seat to help Lily move her trunk, but when they tried to lift Lily's trunk, it wouldn't move! Both girls, giving it their all, were tugging, pulling, and lifting the trunk, but to no avail.

"Gosh, Lil, however did you manage to get this thing on the train by yourself?" questioned Gina slightly out of breath.

"It wasn't this heavy, earlier! I promise, Gina." replied Lily unaware of what was going on.

"May I be of assistance ladies?" asked a tall handsome boy with messy black hair while flashing a grin that nearly every girl fell for, except Lily.

"Potter! You did this! Take whatever spell you put on my trunk, off this instant!" yelled Lily getting angrier by the moment.

James pretended to look very hurt. "Evans, I was just in the next compartment and heard you two having some sort of trouble with something, and I thought I would see if I could help," said the hazel eyed boy while flashing another smile.

"Whatever," muttered Gina barely loud enough for James to hear it.

He looked at her, and then at Lily, and said, "Well, since I am here, at least let me help you with your trunk. You two fine ladies can admire my muscles while I'm at it."

Lily shot James a glare that specifically stated that she would like him to be anywhere else, preferably in the lake with the loch ness monster, but nonetheless, she replied, "Fine! Move it, and go away!"

James looked at Lily once more and wiggled his eye brows, "You know you just want to see my muscles and stare at my bum while I'm not looking."

Before Lily could hex him, James picked up the trunk, like it was light as a feather and put it inside the compartment.

Lily was raging. "Potter, get away from me, you, you imbecile! And for the record, I never want to look at you, your muscles or your bum!"

"Aww…Evans, I do something nice for you and this is the thanks I get?"

Lily huffed and went into the compartment leaving James out there with Gina.

"James," Gina whispered, "thanks for helping, even though I think you were behind her trunk being stuck."

James grinned and said innocently, "Who, me? Never…" and went back into his compartment with his fellow Marauders.

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James and Sirius had a much more calmer morning than Lily did. They were awakened early, cursing and mumbling under their breath, by one of the Potter's house elves, Lindy.

"Sirs, it's not gon' do ya no good to be a cursin' that way. It taint gon' 'complish nothing." replied Lindy disapprovingly.

James and Sirius just stared at her as if she had suddenly grown an extra head, secretly thinking, through their groggy thoughts, that she would pay for waking them up, one day….somehow.

Lindy ignored the looks, quite used to it after six years.

She gave them time to shower and dress, and then called the boys down to a magnificent breakfast. Bacon, ham, sausage, eggs, toast, pancakes, and fresh fruit. The two best friends were thrilled and vowed to never prank Sissy again.

Needless to say, James and Sirius ate the majority of the food on the table. Although, immediately after eating, they each ran back upstairs to their trunks in James's room to make sure they had packed everything and that everything was in order before they left.

The boys still had a few minutes to spare so they went down to say goodbye to Mrs. Potter. James's father was to be driving them to the station that morning.

"James, Sirius, I know this will go through one ear and straight out the other, but do try not to get into _too_ much trouble this year." said Melanie Potter, emphasizing the "too."

James looked at his mother and then at Sirius and then smiled: "Marauder's promise," and made a motion of crossing his heart. Sirius did the same.

"Oh, you boys are just too much!" said Mrs. Potter through laughter.

Gary Potter walked into the room looking very tired and much older than he was.

"Dad!" exclaimed James, with Sirius mimicking him just a few moments later.

"Hello boys, all packed?"

"Yes, sir." replied Sirius.

"Uh-huh." echoed James.

James was excited that his father was driving Sirius and him to King's Cross. Since James's father was an auror, James never got to see him much anymore because of that evil git, Voldemort. He really missed his dad.

James was a spitting image of his father. The same black hair, same facial features, same body build, except his father had brown eyes and James had his mother's hazel eyes.

Gary Potter told James and Sirius that he felt that it was time to leave for the station. Mrs. Potter said a quick spell and both black haired boy's items were on their way to the car that James's father rented from the Ministry of Magic.

Melanie hugged James tightly and told him to be safe and that she loves him and did the same to Sirius.

The men of the house left and headed to the train station. The ride was filled with talk of how James's father was and what he had been up to, the parts he could share. James wanted to be just like his father. That's why his career he chose was to be an auror.

Fifteen minutes before eleven, the Potter men and Sirius arrived. Two trolley's were gathered and the boys were on their way behind the barrier.

Sirius wanted to give James some alone time with his father, so he said, "I'll just go ahead and get us a compartment."

Gary Potter told Sirius to have a good term at school and said he'd see him over Christmas or summer.

This time it was James who was wishing someone to be safe. "Dad, please be careful on the job. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. I love you."

Gary Potter looked at his son and then hugged him tightly: "I promise I'll take care of myself, son, but you do that too, okay? I love you, too. Now, run along and go find Sirius and have a good term."

It wasn't hard to find Sirius, he had the compartment door open teasing Remus and Peter.

"I'm sorry, guys, but if you don't know the password, then there's nothing I can do. What if you guys are death eaters in disguise sent by my brother to kill me? Sorry, can't take that risk." said Sirius jokingly.

"Come on, Padfoot. Please? Pretty please, with a chocolate frog on top?" begged Peter.

"Hmm, as tempting as that is, no, sorry Wormtail, that's not the password."

"James, hey, do you know the password?" asked Remus, clearly irritated.

"Nope, can't say I do, Moony. But I can guess."

"_Sirius is the king?"_

"No, but I like that, good one, Prongs."

_"Sexy Sirius?" _said Remus.

"Nope"

"_Sirius is god's gift to women?" _asked Peter.

_"_Wormtail, now why would that be password? Everyone knows that!"

"_The Marauders?" _added Remus hopefully.

"No, but close."

"I think I got it, I think I got it!" squealed Peter.

"_Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs!"_

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. Gentleman, you may enter. You obviously are not here to kill me."

"Don't be so sure about that," said James playing around.

The Marauders spent the next half hour talking about what they did over the summer, when a certain red head walked by.

"What do you say, Prongs? Shall we?" asked Sirius mischievously.

James nodded. Sirius said a quiet spell on Lily's trunk that would make it impossible to pick up.

The Marauders watched in amusement as Lily Evans and her best friend, Gina Parks, struggled with the trunk.

"Why don't they just use their wands?" questioned Peter.

"They probably haven't thought of that yet. James, go out there and play their 'knight in shining armor' and lift Lily's trunk up after a few minutes. I'll put a weightless charm on it." chuckled Sirius.

James did as told, but not after first, insisting that the only reason the two girls wanted his help was to observe his body. He pretended to be really hurt that Lily blamed him, but technically he didn't do it. Sirius did. He thought, "got to love those technicalities."

He "miraculously" was able to lift the trunk and not be hexed by Lily. But it was blatantly obvious he had annoyed her. He was pleased. He was even more shocked when Gina thanked him for helping. She still believed he was behind the prank, but he figured that she felt bad that Lily walked away without thanking him.

James grinned at Gina and said innocently, "Who, me? Never…" and went back to join his fellow Marauders in the compartment next door.

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Gina walked into the compartment after Lily only to hear Lily ranting to the Jenny about James "helping." Jenny tried to look concerned but her wanting to laugh won the battle.

Lily didn't look pleased that she laughed and glared at her for a second.

"Look on the bright side, Lil, he didn't ask you out." said Jenny, trying to make up for laughing.

Gina walked in and said hello to Jenny and asked, "Where's Taylor and Brooke?"

Jenny said while rolling her eyes, "Oh, with their boyfriends."

Lily, curious, asked who their boyfriends were.

"Taylor is dating that seventh year Gryffindor, Steven Cooke. You know, somewhat tall, blue eyes, dark hair. Normally on the rowdy side?"

Lily replied she thought she knew, and Gina said the same.

"And who is Brooke dating?" asked Gina.

Lily didn't care to hear, she did not care for Brooke all that much. She was full of herself and always so flirtatious, or so Lily thought. She really didn't understand why all the boys flocked to her.

Gina liked Brooke sometimes, she had her good and bad times. Brooke Burks was the kind of girl that wasn't afraid to stand up for herself or flirt with your boyfriend. She loved attention and would do just about anything to get it. She had medium length dark brown hair with blue eyes with a ring of gold around her pupils. She had a semi-dark complexion and a freckled face.

"Well, she just broke up with Justin Abberby she told me, and is now dating a Ravenclaw from fifthyear. Randy Destin. I think he is a chaser on their quidditch team." said Jenny knowingly.

Gina and Lily both really liked Jenny Flock. She was about their height with a dark brown hair color that was almost black, medium length just below her shoulders. She had brown eyes and was light skinned. She was very pretty. She was also one of the sweetest girls you could ever meet. Kind, truthful, and fun to be around.

The three girls chatted about various things before becoming sleepy and decided to take a small nap.

A little while later, Shawn Austin came by their compartment to ask Lily if she wanted to walk to the Prefect meeting together, but noticed Lily was sleeping. He woke her up and they were on their way. He noticed that she had been reading "Pride & Prejudice" by Jane Austen.

Lily asked Shawn to wait so that she could ask Remus if he wanted to walk with them, but Remus had already left.

The Prefect meeting was the same as always, describing duties and responsibilities that they would be required to fulfill this year. Nicholaus Tucker of Gryffindor and Samantha Orwell of Hufflepuff were head boy and girl.

Lily returned back to her compartment noticing Gina and Jenny were still asleep, and decided to finish her previous nap.

All the girls later were woke up by someone telling them to change into their school robes.

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Not much went on in the Marauders compartment unless you count their trying to charm the food on the food trolley to make everyone turn green and have purple spots. But apparently Dumbledore had thought of that problem and unless you bought everything on the trolley, any charm or such would not affect the food.

The Marauders were very disappointed to figure that out, so they bought their food, ate, and caught up on some lost sleep. They were woke up by being told to get into their robes because they would be arriving very soon.

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The train came to a halt where the students could transfer over into the seemingly horseless carriages. A call of "FIRS' YEARS, THIS WAY!" could be heard from the groundskeeper Hagrid putting the first year students in the boats and sending them on their way to the castle.

The Marauders found a carriage of their own, while Lily, Gina, Jenny, and Shawn found their own carriage too. The talk to the school was filled with eagerness ready to come back to everyone's home away from home.

"I'm really excited to try some of the spells out from those old charms books that Potter and Black gave me for my birthday!" said Lily happily.

"I'm ready to see those pictures you took!" said Gina.

"I'm just happy to be back with my friends." said Shawn.

"Oh, I guess it's my turn," Jenny said, "umm, I'm excited to be back and learning new spells, too."

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"Oi, Prongs, I noticed we only bothered Evans once the entire trip. Is everything alright?" asked a somewhat concerned Sirius.

"Yeah, It's fine. I've just decided to not bother Evans as much this year. I'd like to become friends with her, so she can see a different side of me, and maybe even love me one day." replied James with a look of determination on his handsome face.

"I think that is a grand idea," said Remus, "I'm proud of you for deciding that on your own. That's very mature, James. And maybe to help you out a little more, her name is 'Lily.' Try calling her that."

Peter was silent on that subject but blurted out, "Man, I'm starving!"

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The carriages finally reached Hogwarts on the brink of nightfall. The sky was a combination of black, red, orange, pink, and blue. All students, except first years, got out of the carriages and made their way into the Great Hall. Lily was starving, as were her other companions. And the Marauders, their stomachs were like black holes, never were completely filled, so they were beyond starving, or so they claimed.

The Gryffindors made their way to their table and sat down waiting for the sorting to commence. Lily noticed that since the incident involving Potter on the train, he had left her alone. She thought it was peaceful. He wasn't even sitting next to her, but he was still close in proximity. Lily thought it odd that she even thought of that, but she had got so used to him pestering her every chance he got. She could definitely get used to this.

A line of first years filed into the great hall with looks of utter terror on their faces.

Professor Minerva McGonagall brought a three legged stool out and sat a tattered looking hat upon it. Soon after the hat was set down, it broke out into song:

Dark times ahead, no doubt of that

Where to put you, I'm just a hat

But put me on, and I will see

The house that belongs with he or she

Those that want loyal friends that are true

Hufflepuff is the place for you

Those that have good minds and are smart

Ravenclaw is the place to put your heart

Those that are cunning and are clever

Slytherin will give you ties that will never sever

Those that are brave and also bold

Gryffindor is somewhere you will never grow old

So put me on, give me a chance,

To see your thoughts and around with them dance,

I'll put you where I see fit

I've never been wrong, I'm not a git!

The school broke into applause after the sorting hat finished its song and watched as the first student, "Aaron, Blake" was sorted into "Ravenclaw!"….

"Frantz, Hannah"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Mitchell, Logan"

"Slytherin!"

"Sansen, Audrey"

The Gryffindor table applauded loudly when she was sorted into "Gryffindor!"

The sorting ended with the placement of "Zimmer, Maggie" into "Gryffindor!"

Dumbledore stood up as the sorting hat was carried out by Professor McGonagall. He looked especially festive wearing midnight blue robes that made the twinkle in his eye really stand out.

"May I have your attention please? Welcome back students of old and new, and a big welcome to our lovely faculty. Just a few short announcements before the feast. The Forbidden Forest is strictly off limits. No exceptions. This is to all students." said Dumbledore while giving the Marauders a glance and continued to look in their direction while saying, "No magic in the corridors between classes, and there are a list of items banned on school premises located on Mr. Filch's door, our wonderful caretaker. I believe that covers everything. Enjoy!"

The food was simply wonderful. Steak and kidney pie, chicken, pumpkin juice, biscuits. The students were enthralled. Everyone ate until they could eat no more.

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It was an uneventful first night back. Lily, Remus, and Shawn showed the first years their dorms and went to their own bedrooms and went to sleep.

Lily thought, "It feels good to be back at home where I feel I truly belong," and went to sleep with a smile on her face.

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**That's the end of chapter 3! I hope everyone likes it! I'm sorry if my British is off. I'm American...so I really am not all that familiar with it besides what I read in Harry Potter and novels by Jane Austen. Please review if you like!**


	4. First Day Back

**Oh my goodness! I am so sorry. I apologize for having like a 2 month wait. I got involved in an archeology dig which took up 2 weeks, I started hanging out with my friends getting in the social circle again, face book and myspace came into my life, college excitement and shopping took/is taking place. I move in Aug. 19! I went to Six Flags. I do hope that those reading don't hate me, and I apologize once again. I haven't abandoned the story, nor do I plan to. Sorry this is long…I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:** **I own a college scholarship but sadly not anything related to the Harry Potter Series. Although if I did, I wouldn't need that scholarship!**

**Chapter 4: First Day Back **

"Ugh! Potions…it must be against the law somewhere to have potions _first_ thing with the _Slytherins _on the first day back." complained a groggy yet still handsome Sirius Black.

James nodded in agreement, as did Peter and even Remus, although Remus wasn't listening to the conversation. His thoughts were preoccupied.

"…goofy grin…rosy cheeks…my foot you're not hiding something!" James overheard as some giggly third year Hufflepuffs passed by the Marauders in the Great Hall. He snickered to himself, "mental those girls."

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but….we need to head to Slughorn's class." said a boy who answers to Moony.

Sirius answered back, "You know you did not _have_ to be the bearer of bad news," still slightly moody from being tired.

"You boys better get a move on, or all the good seats will be taken" said fellow sixth year Gryffindor Brooke, making sure to be as flirtatious as possible, which included her winking and making sure to sway her hips as she walked by.

Lily huffed and then snorted with laughter when she saw Brooke acting that way. It was truly sad in Lily's opinion. She really could not stand the girl. She got on Lily's last nerves. Furthermore, that girl couldn't be in O.W.L. level potions. She was smart, but she just didn't care.

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Slughorn very cheerfully welcomed his new sixth year students to class and announced that they would be making a simple healing potion.

Everyone paired off: Gina and Lily, James and Sirius, Taylor and Jenny, which left Remus without a partner. Slughorn decided to be nice and let Remus choose a group to be in, and of course, he chose the two best female potion makers in the class and not mention two of the prettiest. "Easy grade…James and Sirius would understand," or was that just his excuse?

Professor Slughorn announced, "If everyone could please turn to page 5 and begin, ingredients, like always are in the cabinet."

"N-no, Gina," a somewhat shy Remus stuttered out, "don't worry about getting the ingredients, I'll get them."

"Are you sure? It's no problem." questioned Gina with a slight blush changing the color of her cheeks to a rosy shade.

"No, it's fine, I don't mind at all," he replied smiling goofily.

Lily noticed this, but said nothing for now. Lily was thinking that maybe Remus had ulterior motives for joining their group instead of being in a group with James and Sirius.

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"Remus, you were great!" exclaimed a very happy Lily.

"Magnificent, wonderful!" added Gina.

Remus seemed to really smile when these comments were being spoken. Lily and Gina were already good at potions, but with the help of Remus, they finished 20 minutes early and earned a homework free night for the class.

"Well thanks again Remus," Gina said casting him a big smile and laughing, "we'll see you later, we're gonna get out of here before James can annoy Lily (a defiant "Hey!" could be heard from James in the background) today! Later!"

And with that the girls headed to their free period, which meant the Marauders, minus Peter, also, had a free period seeing as how they shared the same schedule.

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"So, Geeeeeeenuh," Lily said drawing Gina's name out in a playful manner, "is there something going on between you and Remus? If there is, I wouldn't mind, he's the respectable one of that lot."

"Um, sorry Lileeeeeee, not that I know of, and wipe that stupid smile off your face."

"Gina, I know your not blind, he was staring at you all during potions and offered to get the ingredients for you…"

"Well, he was being a gentleman."

"Uh-huh..well we'll see. But anyways, do you think you would like him if he liked you?"

"I, uh, really don't know. I'm not, um, er, sure."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"Oh bugger off."

"So you do like him, you think he's cute!"

"Well, of course I think he's cute, I mean he is one of the dreamy Marauders."

"Puh-leeze, dreamy marauders? Ha! You still didn't answer my question."

"Oh Lily, just because you don't like James and Sirius, it doesn't mean that they're not incredibly good looking."

"Look at that, you're avoiding the subject….again."

"And you're not denying that James and Sirius are incredibly good looking! Okay, okay. Stop glaring at me like that, you know it scares me! I _might_ like him. Happy now?"

"Yes!" screamed a giddy Lily. She then proceeded to begin dancing around saying "Gina's got a crush, Gina's got a crush!" all the while making Gina turn as red as a tomato.

Lily eventually got Gina excited about her crush and they began dancing around together, giggling and such.

Imagine what a sight that was to see when the Marauders, minus Peter, crept in unnoticed, until Sirius came over and started dancing with them.

"So, um, why are we dancing? Are we celebrating my good looks? James, Remus! Come help us celebrate!" asked a still dancing Sirius.

"No, no, we're fine, really." replied Remus fighting the urge to laugh. He did not expect to see this in the Gryffindor common room when he came in.

"Yeah, sorry mate, I'm gonna sit this one out. I can admire Lily much better from here." James said while winking at Lily with one of his famous smirks on his face.

Lily glared daggers at James and yelled, "Potter, you're dead." She walked over to him and slapped him across the face: "You say any derogatory thing like that again, and it'll be much worse than a slap."

"Oooo fiesty!" Sirius threw out to fill an awkward silence.

Lily and Gina looked at each other and laughed so hard they were rolling around on the ground holding their stomachs and wiping tears from their eyes. They looked at each other again and Lily spoke up, "So um, we were, um, uh, exercising! Yeah, that's it! It's the way some muggles are doing it now."

Gina said, "Yeah, it's a lot of fun! You boys should try it sometime! We'll we're parched…so um…we're gonna go get something to drink, right Lily?"

"Okay, sure you don't want to dance some more? It was a lot of fun!" Sirius sadfully said.

"Next time we do that again, you'll be the first one we ask Sirius." said Gina smiling.

Lily and Gina left the Marauders to go fetch some pumpkin juice from the Great Hall before the next class, Herbology.

"Hey, Lil, don't tell anyone about our little dance topic, kay?"

"Don't worry, G, your secret is safe with me! I'm just glad the Marauders didn't notice how badly we covered the excuse up. It didn't seem that believable, but they are boys."

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"Did anyone else notice how weird that was?" asked a very amused James, "I'm not complaining though, Lily can dance whenever, wherever she pleases, and especially if I'm around."

"Prongs, you're absolutely right, mate! That was really weird. Those are two girls I wouldn't normally just picture dancing around in the middle of the common room with no music. And since when do those two care about their weight?" concurred Sirius.

Remus asked James, "I thought you weren't going to bother Lily anymore?"

"I did say that, but, I've decided to just gradually ease out of it. Like giving up candy, if you ease out of it, it makes it easier. I think…"

"You, my friend, are pathetic." Sirius stated.

"Anywho…I'm sorry I didn't join your group in potions." Remus said.

"Yeah! Hey, why didn't you? Traitor!" Sirius said jokingly, to an extent.

"It was an easy grade!" Remus replied.

"Sure, Remus, I think you just wanted to be by Gina. Sirius and I couldn't help but notice you looking at her." James said matter-of-factly.

"I da-don't kn-know what you're ta-talking about." Remus stuttered out.

"Sure ya don't." Sirius joked.

"Oh gee, look at the time, I'd love to stay and chat with you but we need to get to Herbology…" Remus shouted while running out the portrait.

"I'd say he has a crush on Gina. She's nice enough for sure. I think they'd be good together. We need to watch them when they're together and see if they got good chemistry." Sirius stated.

James looked at him strangely: "That, mate, is the truest, yet oddest thing coming from your mouth."

Sirius smiled at him and then said, "Hey! I can say nice stuff too!"

James just nodded and assured him he was only joking and both headed to herbology.

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Remus made it out of the castle long before any of the boys did. He happened to see Taylor and Jenny just ahead of him.

"Taylor, Jenny! Hey!" Remus yelled.

The girls stopped so that Remus could catch up with them. "Hey Remus! How was the rest of your summer?" inquired Jenny, "My summer went well, the trip to Scotland with Gina was wonderful. It's so pretty."

"Yeah it is. The sights are beautiful." replied Remus with a genuine smile. "Oh! My summer, well, it was filled with James, Sirius, and Peter, and myself pranking anyone who dared enter the Potter Manor or the very people in it. Taylor?"

"Um, my summer was good, I spent it with Steven most of the time."

"That seems like that's all you ever do." said Jenny a bit hurt.

Remus sensing a possible argument bid them a farewell and found a seat in the back of Greenhouse number two. James and Sirius quickly joined him.

Even though Shawn didn't make O.W.L. level potions, he probably had the highest score on his herbology test out of the class. He decided to sit with James, Sirius, and Remus since Jenny, Gina, Taylor, and Lily were already occupying one table.

James watched Remus since he figured Sirius would forget to during class, but he didn't stare at Gina all the time, just occasionally. And by occasionally, he was doing it every few seconds. To James's surprise Sirius caught on!

Lily noticed this too, between taking notes, she wrote a little note to Gina,

Gina,

He can't take his eyes off of you!

Love you lots,

Lily.

P.S. Be sure to invite me to the wedding.

Gina smacked Lily in the arm when she read that but grinned nonetheless.

Class passed by quickly ending with a small 2 foot essay to write about Mandrakes being sure to cover all aspects briefly.

Lily exclaimed, "Gina, he soooo likes you!"

"Shh! Do you want everyone to know?"

"I feel bad, we've been leaving Jenny and Taylor behind today, lets wait for them."

"Agreed."

The girls all walked off towards the castle with the Marauders close behind.

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"Man, I am starving!" shouted Sirius as he sat down to lunch.

"And when are you not?" asked James.

"Good point," he retorted.

"So, Moony, when you gonna make your move?" James asked aloud.

"Huh, oh, I don't know what you're talking about." Remus said mysteriously.

"Make a move! Where's the chess board? I don't see one, so how can he make a move…..oh…I get it! He's playing mental chess!" Peter said while sitting down.

"Wormtail! You old wormy thing! It hasn't been the same without you around." said James truthfully yet laughing.

"I know, it's truly dreadful in class without you guys. At least I got to work with Shawn in Potions. He's really nice once you get to know him, a bit of a smart pants, but who isn't?"

Sirius said, "Ahem…we were talking about Moony and when he's going to make his move on this girl he fancies that goes by the name of Jenny!"

Remus looked up shocked.

"Gina, you mean, not Jenny." James corrected.

"Dang! I thought that's what I said, Gina, Jenny, dang I hate that, their names are too close…confusing!" Sirius mumbled.

"Yes?" Gina asked as walking in, "I heard you say my name. Did you need something?"

"Oh, er, no…we were just talking about how yours and Jenny's name sounds so similar." Sirius said trying not to give himself away.

"Oh really? We've had that problem a lot. I'll answer to anything that sounds like Gina. I even answered to Shaina once!"

James laughed aloud along with the rest of the Marauders as Gina walked down the table to join Lily, Taylor, Jenny, Brooke, and Shawn.

Remus noticed that Taylor was sitting with her boyfriend and her and Jenny were getting along fine.

"Remus, you never," started James and was finish by Sirius, "answered our question." They grinned at each other…best mates finishing sentences, couldn't get any better..unless James was with Lily now.

"Geez, you guys don't let up! Okay, okay, so I might have a crush, but I'm not telling you who, because you'll just go up to her and try to help but really hurt my chances with her. I think I know what I'm doing. And besides, it's only the first day back, what's the rush?"

"Ouch, that hurts, even though there is some truth in it," Peter said filling in what James and Sirius was thinking.

"Okay, we won't help, we can't since we don't know who, but since you haven't told us and we think we know who it is, you never said we couldn't go talk to her!" James said while getting up to go talk to Gina with Sirius following and Peter further behind.

"Oi, Gina! Can I, er, we talk to you a minute?" James asked.

Remus saw this and groaned inwardly. "What are they going to do?"

"So how are you?"

"Having a good first day?"

"Is the moon really made of cheese?"

The three people looked at Peter and laughed.

"I'm good, and yes, I'm having an excellent first day. Thanks for asking." Gina replied a bit unsurely.

"So, I see Taylor has a boyfriend, what about the rest of your friends?" James asked getting an inquisitorial look on his face.

"Um, that's an odd question…but Taylor is dating Steven Cooke, they're practically married, Brooke, I don't know who her flavor of the month is, Jenny, no, Lily, no, and me, that's a big negative." Gina said smiling and added as an afterthought, "Oh! Shawn isn't interested in boys, but he doesn't have a girlfriend either."

"Oh okay, um well, we gotta go, we left Remus all by himself!" James said while smiling trying not to appear shifty.

"Bye Gina!" Sirius said while flashing her a flirty smile. "We really do need to dance again…." his voice fading as he walked farther away.

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The rest of the day was boring, since the herbology essay was due tomorrow, everyone spent the rest of the afternoon writing it. It was odd that an essay be due that fast, but seeing as how it was very easy, Professor Vines thought it would be a good way to get everyone's work ethic back in motion.

It was an eventful first day full of many possible things. Everyone was tired and turned in early that night to catch up on some lost sleep. The next day would be there faster than anyone wanted.

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**Sorry this chapter is shorter than usual. I just really wanted to get something out there. I have been suffering from writer's block too…so yeah. But I know there wasn't much James/Lily interaction, but this chapter is important….it sets up something that will happen in either the next or chapter after next. I hope you liked it, and please review!**


	5. Second Day of School

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter, I own not, nor any affiliated character. Nor do I own any of the Pride & Prejudice quotes mentioned or Lizzy/Elizabeth Bennett, Darcy, Jane, Wickham, or Colonel Fitzwilliam...they all belong to the lovely, brilliant, Jane Austen.**

**Chapter 5:**

Waking up early for the second day of classes and not being able to go back to sleep is a tragedy…or maybe not for a certain redhead.

"Grrr…I just want to go back to sleep!" thought Lily seeing it was only 5:34 in the morning. She tossed and turned for a few minutes when she decided she would read until it was time to get up. Gina had been bugging her about finishing the book she got her and ranting about some uncanny similarities.

"Poor Lizzy having to put up with the antics of Mr. Collins. I'm so happy she didn't agree to marry him, but I feel bad that Charlotte felt she had to marry him. And Bingley is so much more 'agreeable' than Darcy…what a pompous jerk….this book is really getting interesting. Wickham seems very charming, maybe he and Elizabeth will get together? I can't believe Darcy was so mean to him…Okay..enough thinking, must read more!"

7:30 rolled around and Lily was still engrossed by _Pride & Prejudice._

"Lils, you need to come on, we're about to go down to breakfast! Get up!" shouted Gina waving her arms around.

"No, no! I must know what happens! I'll skip breakfast…but I'll be in class on time. Go on without me." replied a very determined Lily while turning the page to begin the next chapter.

A little later on, Lily happened to look at the clock, jumped out of bed, got in the shower just long enough to get water droplets on her, and hurriedly got dressed. She was panicking because it was 8:15 and class started at 8:30, she could not be late-- McGonagal would surely give her a detention.

Lily was at such a good point in the book, it looked like Colonel Fitzwilliam was very interested in Elizabeth, Darcy proposed to Lizzy by practically insulting by pretty much saying, 'he liked her against his will and better judgment,' and Lizzy found out that Darcy was the one who ruined the happiness of her sister Jane by making Bingley move away because of "strong objections to the lady's family."

Lily was deep in her thoughts while on her way to Transfiguration. So much so, that she ran smack dab into none other than James Potter.

"Wow, THE Lily Evans not paying attention to where she's going? What IS this world coming to?" asked James while putting that famous smirky grin on his face.

"Sod off, _Potter._ I don't have time for you right now. For your information, I have to get to Transfiguration." replied Lily venomously, trying to cover up how embarrassed she was at being so inattentive.

"Oh, now, no need to get huffy. _For your information,_ I was just heading to the same class. Shall we?" James said while offering him her arm to take.

Lily mentally kicked herself for not remembering that James, and then probably Sirius, was the best transfiguration student in the entire 6th year class.

When James offered his arm to Lily, she thought back to what Lizzy said to Darcy when he proposed, "From the very beginning—from the first moment, I may almost say—of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry."

She was in shock. That pretty much summed up how she felt about James. She decided she liked Elizabeth Bennett more than she did before. This girl could understand arrogant guys. "Those must be one of the uncanny similarities that Gina was talking about." thought Lily.

"Evans?" questioned James staring at Lily's face to see a small smile on her lips but a distant look in her eyes, "Evans? Are you still there?"

"Oh, err, yeah! NO! I don't want to take your arm. I don't know where it's been last or what _thing_ it's touched," said Lily while walking away towards class and leaving James a bit confused and concerned. Lily was acting out of character to him.

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Transfiguration went by smoothly, of course McGonagal assigned some homework, but that was to be expected. The class was learning the theory behind human transfiguration-a four foot essay worth of theory to be exact. Lily teased Gina a little more about the whole "Dancercise" which was code for Remus and Gina have a crush on each other! James and Sirius noticed the same thing they noticed in Herbology--Remus staring at Gina again and even speaking briefly with her after class.

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Later that day Lily and Gina were sitting in the common room working on some homework and just talking…well more like they were talking.

"You really think he likes me, Lily?" asked Gina hopefully.

"If he doesn't, then that means I like Potter. So it's got to be true." replied Lily grinning largely. She was happy that Gina was going to have a nice boyfriend, her last one really broke her heart. He was younger than her, cute, charming, but just lost interest in her. A week later he started dating his ex-girlfriend again, and now he's dating his other ex who he told Gina that their relationship didn't mean a thing, while he and Gina were still together. So now Gina thinks he's telling this girlfriend the same thing about their relationship.

They became friends again after a long while. Gina refused to talk to him, and him her because he felt stupid. But now, they're not friends again. Gina pretends like it doesn't bother her, but Lily can tell it still does, not as much, but a little.

"Lily, you know he talked to me after class."

"I saw! What did he have to say….or ask!"

"He was just asking me how I was, and if I thought the lesson was interesting. We were talking about how its going to be fun to start transfiguring things again, and that's when James and Sirius came up behind us and bumped into Remus which made him bump into me."

Laughing heartily, Lily said, "Sounds like Potter and Black can see that Remus likes you too."

"Maybe so, Lily, why do you always call James and Sirius by their last name, but not Remus or Peter?"

"Because it's a mutual agreement we have, and I like Peter and Remus better out of the four, but Remus the most."

"But you know James likes you, he has for like forever, Lils. And he seems like he's changed, ya know? He hasn't asked you out yet, which is a record. All summer and 2 days of school? That is a record!"

"I can't just go from hating Potter, to liking him Gina. I still think he's arrogant and immature, and unless I see otherwise, then there is no chance."

"So, anyways….. what was this about James offering you his arm? That seems more mature and gentlemanlike." said Gina teasingly.

"Oh goodness. Gina, puh-leeze. He was just talking about how out of it I was, well, I don't know why he offered me his arm actually. I really doubt he was trying to be a gentleman, probably some trick. Oh, I noticed one of the similarities between me and that book!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, Darcy is just like Potter. Rude, arrogant, cocky, conceited, prideful, jerky, um…you get the picture. Elizabeth hates him as much as I hate Potter."

"Lily, dear, your only half way aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well, I think you'll like the ending."

"I'm sure I will, the book is very addictive. But, I'm starved. Let's go down to dinner."

"Me too, I thought you'd never ask!" said Gina walking over to link arms with Lily and head down to dinner.

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"Yummy! Dinner! Food!" shouted Peter sitting with the three Marauders and Shawn in the sixth year boys dormitory.

Shawn rolled his eyes, he wasn't in a good mood. He had gotten a letter from his dad saying the death eaters destroyed his grandmother's house. He didn't tell anyone yet, because he didn't feel like everyone trying to sympathize or empathize with him.

"Wormtail, mate, I know your hungry but dinner isn't at least for another thirty minutes." said a sad Sirius for announcing to his stomach it would have to wait a little bit longer.

"James, Sirius, why, pray tell did you push me into Gina earlier?"

"Accident?" asked Sirius who then began to whistle.

"We weren't looking at where we were going?" added James unsurely while twiddling his thumbs.

"Sorry Moony, won't happen again!" said Sirius flashing a sorry smile.

"I tried to be nice to Lily today." muttered James proudly, "I didn't even ask her out…I may have been a bit sarcastic with her, but she was being sarcastic too!"

"It's a step in the right direction, James my boy." Sirius said giving James a pat on the back.

"I even offered her my arm so I could be the gentleman and escort her to class, especially since she seemed a little spacey. She ran into me, was really out of it, odd…But of course, she turned it down and insulted me. I haven't had a girlfriend since the spring of the year before, but I guess she hasn't noticed." James said looking a bit out of sorts.

Sirius had been thinking about this all day and now seemed like the perfect time, especially since Prongs needed cheering up: "So, I've got this great idea for a prank…should be simple yet effective. Funny as hell too….So here's what we're gonna do…."

"That's brilliant, Padfoot! Why didn't I ever think of that?" James asked quite cheered up now. Pranking was a great way to cheer him up after Lily sadness.

"Um, because I'm special, sexy, handsome, intelligent, and wait, I guess you're those things too, but not special, that's just me!" Sirius replied but then added upon seeing the look on his best mate's face and said, "Just kidding!"

"Shawn, hey, are you okay?" Remus asked seeing Shawn get off his bed and head to the door without saying a word.

"No, I'm not bloody okay. My grandmother's house just got effing blown to smithereens. They can't find her either."

"Oh, Shawn, we're so sorry." the Marauders replied truthfully and watched as he walked out of the door down to dinner.

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"Dinner is so amazing! Man was I hungry." Jenny said while going for a piece of dessert.

"Jenny, I haven't talked to you in so long! Well last night, but now it's dinnertime and I haven't spoke to you all day!" Lily said pretending to be hurt.

"Oh you know, the usual, classes, homework, eating, classes, sleeping. That's about it really."

"Same here too. Except Gina and I did some dancerising!"

"What's that?"

Lily was about to tell Jenny since Gina and her were close to Jenny, but seeing the look on Jenny's face she told Jenny the same excuse she told the Marauders. "We were dancing for exercise, so we're calling it dancercise."

"Oh that sounds like fun!"

"It was, Sirius even started doing it with us." Gina replied smiling, "It was really cute if I say so myself."

"Lily that's a pretty necklace you have on." Taylor said, "Where did you get it from?"

"Oh, it was a gift from Mrs. Potter. Her and my mum are pretty good friends. It's a star necklace. Supposedly it's linked to a star in the sky and it'll glow green I think when I stand under it, and if I'm with my true love under the stars or some gobbledygook like that, it'll glow blue if we both have a star necklace on."

"Oh that's sweet. I don't believe in that sort of thing, but it's still cute. Me and Steven just spend so much time together, we just know we love each other without saying it. It's been about 4 months."

Jenny rolled her eyes but pretended to be happy. Lily and Gina did the same thing. They were all sad that Taylor never spent time with them anymore.

An owl came flying into the great hall, dropping a letter in front of Gina.

"Ooo! Who could it be from?" Jenny said getting excited.

"Open it, hurry!" added Lily.

"Okay, it says:

Gina,

Meet me in the astronomy tower at 8:45 tonight. I can't reveal my identity, but just meet me there.

Anonymous"

"So, are you gonna do it?" Lily asked while glaring at Brooke as she walked by wearing her robe sleeves rolled up and too much make up with both her arms wrapped around Jay. "Wait, Jay?" Lily thought, "I though she was with someone else? Oh well, she's as bad as Potter used to be."

"Yeah, I suppose I will. I'll be careful though. It could be some Slytherin trying to play a trick. You know one of my ex's ex girlfriends. You know how that one black haired girl hated me." Gina said looking somewhat annoyed.

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"Poor Shawn," thought James. He figured Shawn was telling Lily and Gina because they both looked like they were about to be in tears when he was talking to them. His attention was brought back to the lunch table by Sirius throwing a piece of bread at him.

"Hey! What was that for?" asked James preparing to throw a piece of food back at Sirius.

"You need to eat more, you're getting to skinny. No, you just looked out of it, and I wanted to get your attention, why else would I be throwing bread?" replied Sirius in a joking manner.

"CHEESE!" shouted Peter suddenly seeing a plate of assorted cheeses on the table. He lunged at it and began scarfing it down. The other Marauders began laughing and Sirius even managed to fall out of his seat, which caused more laughing. Ever since Peter knew he was a rat as an animagus, he's developed a cheese fetish. He gets very excited around it now, antsy like a rat may do.

The sixth year girls happened to look down the table and see Peter eating cheese like it had never existed until now. Lily and Gina found it disgusting and hilarious at the same time, while Taylor and Jenny just found it plain disgusting. At this point, the four girls decided that upon seeing that, it was now time to head back to the Gryffindor common room. They had to get Gina ready for her mystery person.

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"Gina, you look great!"

"Beautiful!"

"Pretty!"

"Good luck!"

Those are some things Gina heard before she left at 8:30 to head to the astronomy tower. It was a long walk up there.

"Hello?" Gina asked looking around when she got there but not seeing anyone.

She figured that whoever it was probably wasn't there yet. It was a beautiful night though, so she laid down on the floor of the tower and stared up at the stars.

She must have dozed off because she woke up with someone slightly shaking her. She nearly jumped out of her skin. It was Remus Lupin. Her first thought was, "Oh, Lily must be right!"

"Hey Gina, I'm sorry I scared you. Thanks for coming to meet me."

"Oh, it's no problem. I must admit, I'm a little surprised."

"I thought you might be. I thought it would be easier to talk here than in front of everyone."

"Oh, yeah, I suppose it would." Gina replied while still staring at the stars, scared to look at Remus.

"So, I guess you're wondering why I've asked you to meet me here."

"Um, maybe a little." Gina said laughing.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Gina's heart began to beat faster. "Oh sure, go ahead."

"There's someone that I like, and I was wondering if you would know if they liked me."

"Oh" Gina replied, a little less happier than she intended, "Who is it?"

"Well I know that you're good friends with her.."

"Wait, you're not talking about Lily, because that's like James's girl, you couldn't possibly…"

Remus started laughing, "No, no, no. You're absolutely right, I would never do that to James. I like having Lily as a friend, nothing more."

Gina began to blush slightly: "I'm sorry, continue."

"Well, like I said, I know you're good friends with her, and I think she's really nice and very pretty, but I just felt it would be easier to talk to you than it would be to her."

At those last words, Gina had to do all she could to keep the tears that came to her eyes from pouring out.

"So, you'd have to be talking about Jenny or Taylor, and I hope you wouldn't like Brooke." Gina replied with her voice noticeably shaken.

Remus nodded and said it was Jenny.

"Gina, are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." she lied.

"No, your not, you're crying."

"I am not!"

"Then why do I hear sniffing sounds and see water stains on your face? Did I say something to hurt…oh.."

Remus had figured out he had messed up. "Gina, did you think that I was going to tell you I liked you? I'm really sorry that it sounded that way."

"No, no, don't worry about it. I understand. I think Jenny would like you, she's always thought highly of you." Gina replied with the last few words barely audible due to the big sobs that were coming from her. She didn't even look back to say bye. She ran out of the tower and back to the Gryffindor common room and up to her dorm where Lily was the only one in there.

"Gina, what in heaven is wrong with you? What happened?"

Gina ran to Lily and hugged her and cried on her shoulder. "He only wanted to use me to find out if Jenny liked him!"

"Shh, shh, it's okay, Gina. He was a Marauder anyways. Don't worry about him. Do you want me to tell Jenny?"

"Yes, even though I'm sad, I think Remus will treat Jenny good. And that Doug guy in Ravenclaw is pretty cute.." replied Gina, smiling.

"That's my girl! Dry those tears and we'll go do some dancercising!"

"Can Sirius come? We told him we'd invite him next time."

"If that's what you want, then of course."

----0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0----

Back in the sixth year boys dormitory, Remus told the guys what happened. James and Sirius felt bad because they felt they may have egged it on a little bit. Remus really did feel bad.

A knock on the door took Remus out of his thoughts. It was Gina. "Remus, can I talk to you?"

"Of course."

"I'm sorry, I overreacted. I just thought, people were saying, yeah…But I understand. Lily is telling Jenny as we speak. I like having you as a friend, so don't worry about it. People convinced me that I liked you because they thought you liked me. So, friends?"

"Of course." Remus said while pulling Gina into a hug. "I'm sorry we had a misunderstanding. I really am."

"Like I said, don't worry about it! I'm okay, I promise. So Sirius, Lily and I are about to do some dancercising and we promised we'd invite you the very next time we were gonna do it, so you up to it?"

"Duh! You, Lily, and Me, dancing…what could be better!" Sirius said cheerfully flashing a wicked handsome smile.

Gina melted just a little bit, but held it together.

Sirius thinking about James saying he was trying to be a gentleman by offering his arm to Lily, did the same thing to Gina, except she took his arm and giggled and smiled really big. "Let's go, dear lady!"

And off they went to do some dancercising.

Lily amazingly had a good time with Sirius.

Gina and Sirius flirted all night and had a great time, and everyone was in a great mood when they left. Sirius had taken them to the room of requirement where they actually had music this time.

When Sirius got back, James was glad he had a good time, but jealous he got to spend time with Lily, and that Lily even called him Sirius at night's end. Remus was glad Sirius had cheered Gina up.

Back in the girl's dorm, Jenny was excited about Remus liking her, and had told him so while they were down in the common room, so now they were together. (Remus decided he wouldn't tell Jenny the part about Gina getting upset.) Lily and Gina were exhausted. "Wow, what an interesting second day of school." Gina said and Lily and Jenny both agreed with her each having different reasons to agree.

----0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0----

**Yays for me! I got the next chapter out rather quickly this time! Lol. Well, I hated to do that to Gina, but it all will turn out okay in the end...it always does most of the time! Well please read and review and let me know that you want me to continue! Pretty please with sugar on top?**


	6. Surprises

**DISCLAIMER: I still, even after a year of college, do not own anything affiliated with Harry Potter or Pride and Prejudice.**

Chapter 6: Surprises

A few months had passed and Halloween was drawing near. The leaves were turning to the colours everyone is accustomed to seeing that time of year, lovely hues of brown, golden yellow, orange-red, with the green quickly fading away. The air wisped around the school in cool breezes and the occasional raindrop fell.

Everything had been going well. Shawn was recovering from the shock of losing his grandmother to Voldemort. Jenny and Remus were happy as ever. Lily, Gina, and Sirius had not been dancercising as much, but that was because schoolwork was particularly demanding. And James was still messing with Lily, but to some extent less.

&&&&&

"Ugh. I hate Mondays." Lily uttered while walking to the Great Hall for breakfast with Gina and Jenny.

The other two girls agreed in unison. Lily could not resist the urge, showing a part of her muggle heritage, and cried out, "JINX!"

Jenny being half blood and Gina being pure blood did not understand what Lily meant and instinctively ducked and moved out of the way.

Lily burst out laughing at the two girls forgetting that that was probably a muggle thing.

"Why the hell did you yell that?" Gina confusedly asked while giving Lily a "you must be bonkers" look.

"Yeah, I feel stupid now. I see no one trying to cast a jinx. Thanks, Lily. Greaaaaat joke. Ha. Ha. Trying to become a Marauder?" Jenny said, most obviously annoyed.

"Miss Flock, I hahahaha am NOT trying to be hahahaha a Marauder! I do believe that someone woke hahahahaha up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Lily blurted out between laughs and continued speaking seeing the impatient looks from Gina and Jenny but still holding her sides from laughing so much, "I'm sorry girls. I forget that I'm muggle sometimes. You say jinx when two people say something in unison. But normally one of the people says jinx followed by 'pinch poke you owe me a coke.'"

Gina and Jenny looked at each other and laughed, seeing the humour in what just happened, but soon wanted to hide behind a statue when a loud masculine roar of laughter could be heard from the top of the stairs.

"Oh no…." Gina muttered silently wishing to be under an invisibility cloak.

&&&&&

"Oi, mate, that was priceless!" Sirius barked, heartily laughing.

"I know Padfoot! Did you see the looks on their faces when they ducked?" Remus said while looking at his girlfriend trying not to laugh but ignored the urge and laughed anyway, "absolutely the best thing I've seen in a while!"

&&&&&

Lily stared James down as he approached her: "Evans, I must say, that was brilliant the way you got them to react that way. Maybe I'll start yelling jinx more often," said James looking thrilled that he witnessed Lily do something funny, even though it wasn't supposed to be that funny. He really just enjoyed seeing and hearing her laugh. Putting a smirk on his face and winking at Lily, he inquired, "are you sure you don't want to be a part of the Marauders, there's a position available…we could set up a second interview in oh say that broom closet over there?"

"Potter! NO! Really, giant squid, a broom closet, and myself sounds more appealing. Sorry to disappoint." Lily said with a smug look on her face while walking into the Great Hall. She was finding amusement in saying she'd rather date the giant squid because she knew it bothered James.

"Remus, _darling,_ if you continue snickering, you may not have a girlfriend much longer…" Jenny playfully said while hitting her boyfriend on the arm. "Come on lets go get some breakfast!"

&&&&&

"Lily, you're not saying much." Gina said while shoving a cream filled pastry into her mouth followed by a laugh. "Wow, that was dead sexy. I hope no one saw that. Oh, but you have this far away look in your face. It's kind of a dreamy look. Everything okay?"

"Of course. Sorry. I was just thinking." Lily said while looking up and listening to the whooshing of the owls delivering the daily post.

"About?"

"I finished _Pride and Prejudice_ finally."

"Did you love it? I knew you would!"

"Oh goodness! Yes, I love it! I was totally wrong about Darcy, he wasn't the one who had to do the most changing, but rather it was Elizabeth. I wish I could find that kind of love."

Upon hearing those words Gina looked towards James and then back at Lily and then raised her eyebrows.

A light clicked on for Lily, "GINA PARKS! That's why you wanted me to read that book!"

"Lily, shhhh! You're attracting attention...and by the way...you're putting words in my mouth. Don't look at me like that. It's not nice. You know you still love me. I think someone has a guilty conscience."

"I am not Elizabeth. And Potter is certainly not Darcy. If THAT is what you are trying to imply. Darcy could change but Potter cannot. And I do not need to change."

"It sounds like someone is in denial. Lily, I mean come on. He is still slightly the same, but when was the last time do you remember that he had a girlfriend? You've been the only girl he has been pursuing for over a year now. Furthermore, he is 16. How mature is he really supposed to act? I think you should give him a break. The only reason you dislike him is because you're annoyed with him asking you out all the time, and for his pranking. Okay, so he's not asking you out anymore, and as for the pranking, that may be the area you need to learn to accept."

"We need to get to class; we're going to be late. We'll finish this discussion later, and I am NOT in denial. There's also the possibility that unwelcome ears could hear this conversation, and then I'd never hear the end of it." Lily flatly stated while setting down her goblet of finished pumpkin juice a little harder than she intended causing a small droplet of remaining juice to jump out. "Are you ready?"

"If you are, but promise me you'll think about what I said?" Gina pleaded with sad eyes and pouty lips.

Lily laughed, she knew that Gina meant well. "I'm sorry, I just would rather not discuss this in a public place, but yes, I will think about it."

The curly haired dark blonde and wavy haired red head were walking out when someone called out to capture their attention: "Hey Gina, Lily! Wait up!"

Gina turned around to see the handsome Marauder that answered to Sirius Black running towards her and Lily. "Hey Sirius! What's up?"

"We need more dancercising. Today...Okay? Sound like a plan?"

Gina was surprised that Sirius asked. "Well, sir, this is sudden, but luckily for you I'm free this afternoon. Lily, how about you?"

"I have some prefect duties to deal with, so I can for a bit, but then I'll have to leave you."

"Okay. Thank you dear madam for keeping your calendar free for the afternoon. Sounds great. I'm excited!" Sirius exclaimed jumping up and down like a child who received a pound of sugar quills. "Oh yeah, Gina?"

"Yes?"

Sirius took a look around, looked back at her, and with a mischievous look on his face yelled, "JINX!"

"SIRIUS BLACK! Get back here! That's right you better run! You think you're so funny! You forget we have class together! You just wait!" Gina angrily yelled out while running after Sirius.

"Ah ha, my dear, you will never catch Sirius Black! I'm safe once we get in the class. So ha!"

Lily laughed to herself. She was beginning to take a liking to Sirius Black. She never had that big of a problem with him, except he was friends with Potter, but he still had his moments.

"Evans, you realize that Sirius is probably going to tease Gina from now on about that?"

"Yeah, you're probably right, Potter. Oh hey, have you seen Shawn today? He isn't at breakfast. It's unlike him."

"Sorry. I have not seen him today. If I see him, I'll tell him you asked about him."

"Thanks Potter. We better get to class."

James said it was no problem and said they probably did not want to keep Slughorn waiting. He thought about offering to carry Lily's things, but thought it was a good start to at least having a civil conversation between the two of them. He didn't want to make her angry or have her twist his offer into some insult. He really did care for her; he just over did it a bit too often.

&&&&&

A colliding noise could be heard in the potions corridor. Sirius thought it would be funny to just stop running in the middle of the corridor. Gina wasn't paying attention and ran smack dab into Sirius-fuelling more teasing from the Marauder.

"You're just having all kinds of problems today. Gosh Gina, look where you're going." Sirius said while flashing Gina a flirty grin.

Gina was on the verge of pretending to really hit Sirius but couldn't once Sirius smiled at her. "You know what...you're just... I dunno what you are, but you're something else, Sirius Black." As an afterthought, she ran by him and smacked his arm and pretended to be mad. "No dancercising tonight..."

"What! No! But...you promised!" Sirius looked so concerned. He ran up behind Gina and wrapped his arms around her and pleaded, "You know you can't do that to me! Please!" He spun her around and made a sad face which caused Gina to giggle.

"Fine, I'll let you off the hook this time, but anymore teasing and we won't hang out tonight. Got it?" She stated trying to suppress more giggles.

Gina just noticed that Sirius still had his arms around her when she heard a male and female voice shout, "Oh my!" "Whoa!"

James Potter grinned from ear to ear and said, "And what do we have here? Did I interrupt something?"

"Yes, do tell, Gina, _Sirius_." Lily added, also smiling. She figured that Gina and Sirius liked each other, but she didn't have this information confirmed. James suspected the same.

"She just called me Sirius!" Sirius uttered in amazement in James' direction. "I don't think Lily has ever done that!"

"I think you're avoiding the subject, mate." James teased.

"Uhhhhhh...nothing was going on. Sorry to disappoint, but what's this? James Potter AND Lily Evans walked to class together, and James is still alive?" Gina said in amazement blushing slightly, and also trying to shift the subject.

"Okay, if nothing was going on, then why are you blushing Gina?" James inquired grinning wickedly.

"Oh sod off James." Gina retorted, "I'm not blushing, it's really warm in this corridor."

Sirius chimed in, "It is rather warm..."

James and Lily both pretended to concur with Gina and Sirius and walked by them with inquisitive eyes.

Lily ended the discussion and led the others into the classroom. The two Marauders went back to their lab station, and Gina and Lily headed to theirs. Remus was not there yet, which gave Lily more time to pry information out of Gina.

"So what was that about, Miss Gina?" Lily asked causing a huge grin to appear on her best friend's face.

Gina explained it to Lily and the girls squealed in excitement, but silently so as to not let James and Sirius know what they were speaking of.

"You like him?"

"Possibly. I mean, I don't want to get my hopes up in case he doesn't like me, because Sirius is a big flirt."

"That's true. Just be careful; I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Thanks, Lil. So you walked here with James? My talk must've really helped! Ha! So when's the wedding?"

"Gina...you know better. He came up to me when you ran off after Sirius, I guess to make small talk. Even though it was like 30 minutes ago, what you said really affected me. I'm more mature than Potter in several aspects, but he's more mature than I give him credit for...I suppose. I was civil, little was said, but I also wanted to know if he had seen Shawn because I haven't seen him in a few days, have you?"

"I saw him the other day, but not in the past few. But Lily! I'm very happy that you listened to me, I thought it was a long shot."

"You're making me feel like a bad person." Lily joked. "I did have reason to dislike Potter, but I probably should not have been so rude."

"Bravo, Lils. Now, if you could just remember that his name is James...Try being nice to him, and see how it goes. If he starts acting the way he used to, then I will even be rude to him with you. I doubt he will though. Deal?"

Lily laughed at her best friend. "It's a deal. Oh, shhh. Remus is coming."

"Hey Remus!" the two girls said as Remus walked up. "Fancy seeing you here..." Gina joked and smiled causing Lily and Remus to laugh.

&&&&&

Meanwhile, in the back of the potions room James and Sirius discussed the previous events. James was excited that Lily was civil towards him. Sirius spoke to James about what he was thinking.

Suddenly James blurted out, "SIRIUS! I am having prank withdrawls, and Snivellus pranking withdrawls. We need to fix that soon."

"Undoubtedly, Prongs. Most definitely."

&&&&&

"If you could please turn to page 87 in your books and begin. Oh, and this potion is particularly odd. If any gets on you, it makes you act weird. So be careful. Begin!"

"Um, professor, sir. How exactly do you act weird?" Sirius asked from the back of the classroom.

"Mr. Black, I cannot tell you. It depends on the individual. Some cases have been reported of extreme euphoria, and likewise with depression in an individual. Others have thought they were mandrakes, and one very odd case, a young witch thought she was a cauldron."

With curiosity raised, James inquired, "Sir, what is this potion used for?"

"In most cases, the potion is used to determine if an object has magical qualities. For example, if you had a muggle broom alongside a magical broom, you could pour some potion onto the objects and something will happen to let you know which is which. Oh class! At the end of the class, you and your partners will use your potion to detect the magical ability of these objects at the front of the room."

&&&&&

"Times up! Please come test your potion. Those whose potion does not work, write a 3 foot essay on the potion including a history, side effects, the steps, and why your potion did not work. Lily, Gina, Remus, if you will..."

"You pour it Remus. I'm afraid to touch it," Gina offered while backing away.

"Okay, Mr. Lupin, if you will, just pour a small amount of potion on this statuette. Okay, now this one. Excellent! Class, did you notice the statuette wave? This is a fine potion. 10 points to Gryffindor!"

The only other potions to work were James and Sirius's and some students from Ravenclaw.

"Class dismissed!"

&&&&&

"GINA! LILY! GINA! LILY! GINA! LILY!"

"Hey girls, uh, I think Sirius Black requests your presence in the common room. I mean, he could just like saying your names, but that's just my opinion." Jenny said matter-of-factly laughing afterwards. "I'm sorry I haven't seen you girls much here lately. We'll catch up later. Remus and I are going to go study in the library. I'll see you later."

"I guess Sirius is ready to go dancercise." Lily said.

&&&&&

"Yay!" Sirius exclaimed while bouncing around with Lily and Gina in the room of requirement to a new song by the Witcher Sisters. After about an hour everyone was resting drinking some pumpkin juice when James walked in.

"Hey everyone."

"Mate! Dancercise with us!"

"Ugh. Sirius. Another time, we'll invite James, okay? We're tired." Gina tiredly said.

"Darn. Well, alright."

"Oh, guys, guess what? We're going to have a costume party on Halloween. Seven to midnight. Costumes required. Nothing vulgar. Date required. The usual stuff. A live band will be present."

"Yes!" Both Marauders cried out. They each thought "perfect pranking opportunities."

"Evans, I actually came here to find you. I found Shawn; I knew you were looking for him earlier." James said.

Lily was shocked. Potter did something nice. He must want something. "Wait, I'm not supposed to be thinking like that anymore. Hmm, old habits are hard to break I guess." Lily thought to herself. "Thank you, Potter."

"Gina, Sirius, Potter, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to Shawn. Make sure he's okay."

"Okay, Lils. Tell him I said hello, and I'll come see him later."

"Okay, I will, Gina. Bye. It was fun!"

"Actually, I think i'm going to head out too. I've got some, umm, homework. Yeah that's it. Homework. Bye!" Before Sirius or Gina could question James he ran out. He had ulterior motives.

&&&&&&

"Evans! Wait up!"

Lily turned around to wait for James. "Yes?"

"I really did find Shawn, but I also wanted to give Gina and Sirius alone time."   
"Okay, and why are you telling me this? That's brilliant though!"

"I thought so. Well, I'm Sirius's best mate, and likewise with you and Gina. I think they like each other, and believe it or not I know Gina can be shy."

"Really? How ever did you guess that?" Lily said in a sarcastically funny way.

"It was hard, but I went with my gut." James answered back while laughing. He was enjoying this moment with Lily.

After a few moments of silence, Lily asked "So where is Shawn?"

"He's in our dormitory. He's had a silencing charm on his bed curtains, so we didn't know he was there."

"I guess he's still upset. Poor guy."

"Yeah..."

Lily and James proceeded into the Gryffindor common room and up to see Shawn.

&&&&&

"That's weird that Lily and James both left us." Sirius rather innocently said.

"I'll say." Gina said nervous to be left alone with Sirius.

"It's a pretty night out tonight. I love looking at the stars. It's so calming."

"Are you serious?" an excited Gina exclaimed.

"Why, yes, I am Sirius!" the handsome dark haired fellow said with a cheesy grin. "You had to see that coming?"

"If I would have thought..."

"You haven't been thinking much today. First you jump because you think someone is going to jinx you, you run into me, and now you didn't see that coming. Tsk tsk."

"I wouldn't have phrased that the way I did." Gina said while narrowing her eyes at Sirius.

"Dear, dear. What a look." Sirius uttered while grinning mischievously and put his hands on Gina's shoulders. "I love aggravating you."

"I've noticed." Gina replied while laughing and shuddering at Sirius's touch. "As I was saying earlier, I love the stars too."

"I wish I had my broom!"

"That's random...why?"

"Oh that's right; I'm in the room of requirement." Sirius thought really hard about a broom and sure enough, one popped up on a table. "Would you like to see the stars a little more up close and personal?"

&&&&&

**I really and truly apologize for the long wait. I was away at college for my first year, and things were hectic. I'm really excited to continue writing and I hope my readers forgive me! And if you're a new reader, I hope you enjoy, as always, reviews are welcome! They make me happy and encourage me to write even more!**** Please please please review! **


	7. Happy Times

**Disclaimer: I own nothing Harry Potter related. J.K. Rowling is the lucky lady who can claim it. **

**Thanks for the reviews, much appreciated! Sorry it took me so long to get up another chapter. It's been a rather interesting month in my life since I've last posted. And I also wanted to read the last book before I continued with the story to try to make it as accurate as I can with the books. (Wow! It was..amazing! to say the least. Very sad. I cried quite a bit. Especially the bits about Lily and James. It just breaks me up because I feel so bad for Harry to know his parents are dead. I'm rambling..sorry! Story…)**

**Chapter 7: Happy Times**

"Shawn, dear? It's me, Lily." Lily said cautiously while approaching the closed maroon curtains but hearing no answer.

"Shawn, mate? It's James. Are you in there?"

Still no answer.

James decided to open the curtains and found a note on Shawn's pillow.

_ Lily and Gina,_

_ Sorry I missed your visit. I'll see you later. I wanted to go out for a walk. It's such a lovely night. It was a perfect time to clear my head. I promise we'll have breakfast in the morning._

_ Shawn_

Lily whispered, "Oh." She really was worried about Shawn. She figured the weight of losing his grandmother was hitting him hard now.

"I'm sure he's fine, Evans." James suggested hoping it was true. He really thought highly of Shawn and knew Lily did too.

"Thanks, Potter. I'm sure he'll be fine too. I …just really wanted to see him. There's just something in the pit of my stomach telling me I need to see him."

"You really care for him, don't you?" James questioned with a hurt noticeable in his voice.

"Yes, I do." Lily said, not really thinking about taking James's feelings into consideration.

"Hey, Evans?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you like hot cocoa?"

"With marshmallows?"

"Without a doubt!"

"So, I'm hoping that you're offering some since you're asking?" Lily laughed while inquiring.

"Well, yes and no. Yes I'm offering. But no, I don't have any made yet. Would you like to go to the common room and make some with me?"

"Yes and no…"

"How is that an answer?!?" James uttered in confusion.

"Hahaha. Let me finish. Yes I would love to, but I can't right now. I have a prefect meeting to attend. So calm down. I really must be going now, but the meeting should be over around 9."

"Okay, so hot cocoa, nine o'clock, common room. Got it." James reiterated as Lily hastened from the room. Once she was gone, like a little kid who got candy, James jumped up and down and shouted, "She is going to hang out with me! She wasn't even mean! YES!"

James sat in his room doing some studying for future pranks and accomplishing some homework while anxiously awaiting nine o'clock. The enormous grin on his face could not be removed by anyone.

&&&&&

"Sirius Black! Please be caref…whoooooaaaa!" Gina screamed while hanging on for dear life as Sirius soared through the air doing a sudden dive towards the lake.

Sirius barked with laughter. "I'm sorry, love. I couldn't resist. Isn't that Snivellus over there?"

"Over where?"

"There!" Sirius made another quick movement on the broom earning him a slap on the head from Gina. "Uh…okay. Umm. Enough broom time. Lake?"

"What are you like five? You can't even make complete sentences." Gina teased.

She couldn't tell for sure, but it appeared Sirius blushed or had windswept red cheeks.

"Pardon me, madam, would you care to accompany me to a lovely spot by the lake? If you will not think it impertinent, of course." Sirius bowed and offered his arm to Gina.

"Mr. Black, I'd be delighted. Nothing would bring me greater pleasure." Gina curtseyed and giggled, and proceeded to accept Sirius's outstretched arm.

"By accepting this offer, you bring me great joy, Miss Parks. Shall we?"

"I never knew you could be such a gentleman, Sirius." Inside Gina's mind, she screamed. She absolutely adored this sort of thing.

The two continued walking toward a spot where the moon beams cascaded through the tree limbs creating an enchanted looking spot. Here, Sirius conjured a blanket and pillows and motioned for Gina to sit beside him.

"You know Sirius…I was thinking. I'm really glad Lily is starting to come around with the Marauders. It makes my being friends with you guys easier. Although none of us understand why she's friends with Snape. I notice she's been talking to him less and less. Maybe they had a row or something."

"I hope so, Lily, is certainly too good to be friends with the likes of him. I'm just glad she finally forgave me from the first time she met me on the train for teasing Snape. It took her long enough; I think she still holds it against James."

"I foresee Lily and James getting along better in the future."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, yes. I can't say why. That's between me and Lily, but I'll say that she's realized something."

"Way to leave a guy hanging."

"Look! A shooting star! Make a wish!"

"What did you wish for? I'll tell you if you tell me?"

"That's pointless, Sirius! I can't tell you. It won't make my wish come true."

"Well fine. I didn't want to tell you anyway. So ha!"

Gina giggled. "You're just too much Sirius."

Sirius noticed that he had placed his hand rather close to Gina's. He noticed how long and skinny her fingers were. He had the sudden urge to gently edge his hand over to make their fingers touch, but he felt, dare he think it…scared. A good kind of scared though, the scared that has butterflies fluttering about in your stomach.

"So, you really never knew I could be a gentleman?" Sirius asked, not kidding.

Gina had thought about answering something funny about how she was surprised he had not tried anything on her, but judging from the tone in his voice she had better not.

"No. I never have had occasion to notice. But you're quite good at it, I must say. I'm a sucker for that sort of thing."

"Aww. Yay! I'm glad. I hate having that reputation of being a player. I mean, I know it's true, but a guy can change…."

"I've noticed." Gina whispered barely audible, causing Sirius to glance at her and notice she shivered.

A light bulb clicked on inside of the Marauder. He removed his cloak and put it about Gina's shoulders.

The girl and boy lay there on the cool October night talking about who knows what for hours until Gina fell asleep.

Sirius stared at her as the even sounds of breath emitted from her. He thought she was a very pretty girl. He was even surprised at how he had been so gentlemanly to her. It was usual he kissed a girl the first time they went out. But this was different.

&&&&&

James was staring at the portrait that let fellow Gryffindors in or out of the common room. He would curse to himself when it would open and Lily did not enter. He figured the prefect meeting had gone later than expected.

At last Lily came. And James was thrilled.

"Potter! You better have that hot chocolate ready when I get back downstairs!"

"Ay ay, miss! But..where are you going?"

"To change into my pajamas, of course!" Lily gleefully said and ran up the steps to her room.

"Wow. I sounded a little too excited just then. Okay. I'm talking to myself. Mental, I must be. If only I had something…" the emerald eyed girl gasped in mid-sentence. "My diary! I can pick who I want to talk to in it. I'll use that later. Make mental note to self…okay…got it. Oh dear, I'm still talking to myself."

Lily changed into her pajamas and hesitated in her room for as long as she dared. She really was trying to be polite to James Potter. She was trying, but forgetting how things were is going to be hard. She decided to grab her camera and the potion to develop her pictures and bring that downstairs with her and James.

"Took you long enough, geez." James joked while smiling at her.

"I know, I know." Lily sighed. "I got distracted."

"Okay, here's your mug, and the marshmallows are over there and the hot chocolate is over the fire, help yourself!"

"Not that this isn't wonderful, Potter, but you drink first." Lily prodded, she couldn't be too careful.

To say this didn't hurt James would be a lie, but he obliged. He was willing to suffer little remarks like that. It's not like they aren't deserved.

As soon as James drank and Lily was sure nothing was going to happen, she got her share and loaded the marshmallows on top. "Excellent taste, Potter."

"Thanks." James uttered blushing at the compliment.

"Help me develop my pictures? I've never done it before, and I'd be sad if I messed my pictures up."

"Of course. No problem. It's really very simple."

About 3 mugs of hot chocolate later, the two were laughing at the developed pictures from Lily's birthday.

"This is priceless! This must be when you and Sirius stole the camera. What's that face Sirius is making, but oh, you're face!" Lily erupted with laughter. "I'm going to have to frame this one, for blackmail.."

"What, but, but, but, you wouldn't do that!"  
"I wouldn't?" Lily questioned innocently, which was slightly creepy.

"Do you mind if I have one of these doubles of the group? Just for memories?" James asked hopefully.

"Since you made me hot chocolate, and didn't poison it, which I'm surprised because we've had our moments….sure." Lily was surprised she just uttered those words. She actually meant them, which was surprising. She was having a blast with just her and James. He really could be different, or maybe he was always like this and she never gave him the chance.

James was caught off guard by Lily saying those words, also. He wanted to press her to explain why they had their moments, he just needed to get that courage. He wanted to phrase it and not have her get angry. "Thanks, Evans. Appreciate it."

James stuffed the picture in his robe and noticed it was getting late. Courage building up in his chest or maybe his heart was just beating faster James dared ask, "Evans, why are you being nice to me? Now, of all times. Why not tomorrow or last year or ten years from now? I'm not saying I mind, I prefer it, I'm just curious."

Lily was a little taken aback. This wasn't totally unexpected. If she were thinking properly, she would know it was going to come up in conversation sooner or later. She sighed and began, "It started on the Hogwarts train when you insulted Severus. Beside my sister and parents, he was the closest friend I had. He knew I was a witch, he told me what I was, and told me about the wizarding world. He used to be one of my really good friends, but he's chosen his fate now. I've chosen mine."

Lily appeared very sad to James, but he remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

"I know Severus deserves that insult now, but think how you would feel if someone were insulting Sirius? A second reason was that I found you very immature. Always pranking people but it's nothing compared to the Dark Arts that I know that Severus uses."

James wanted to jump in and defend his pranks, but he held his tongue by biting it.

"The last reason is I found your attitude wholly annoying. Always ruffling your hair, playing with the snitch, asking me out so often. But then I had my eyes opened and realized that you're only 16 and you seem to have changed this year thus far. You've matured and the pranks have not been so frequent."

At this point, the Marauder known as Prongs, spoke, "Wow. To hear it all put into perspective like that…"

Lily interrupted him, blushed from embarrassment, and added, "but most importantly, I realized that maybe I needed to change too. I'm really sorry I've been rude to you, James."

"It's okay, I deserved it most of the time. I'm glad we've had this discussion. I really hope that we can be friends now. I've really had fun tonite."

"I have too, amazingly enough. Who would have thought?" Lily playfully said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"HOLD ON! WAIT just a minute. You called me, James?" James Potter articulated with happiness, shock, and amazement.

"I did, didn't I?" a perplexed Lily muttered.

"Yeah, so, I guess we should stop use of surnames?"

"I would concur."

"Sirius isn't back with Gina, yet is he?

"She wasn't in the room earlier."

"Interesting. Simply interesting."

"James, I'm quite exhausted. Thank you very much for the hot chocolate, it was wonderful. We'll have to do it again sometime."

"I'm glad we had a chance to talk and hang out. Goodnight, Lily. Sweet dreams."

"Me too. Night." Lily said while walking up the stairs to her bed.

&&&&&

James was so happy that he and Lily Evans were friends. Last year it had seemed so important to have her, but now he felt it was more important to be her friend. He figured his maturity level had changed.

He was tired as well and walked to his bedroom to dream happy thoughts and think of good Halloween pranks.

&&&&&

When safely in her bedroom, Lily felt better inside. She had lifted the grudge against James Potter. She felt lighter. She never realized that disliking someone was harder than being friends with them.

She decided to open the diary and saw a spot to write the person she wanted to be in the diary. She couldn't think of any person who was dead that she wanted to be in the diary…the stipulations were 'as long as they weren't alive.'

"I wonder if literary characters count?" Lily wondered to herself. "It's worth a shot."

She tapped her wand to the page and thought, "Elizabeth Bennet, from _Pride & Prejudice_."

Almost instantly, the page turned and writing appeared,

_**Greetings from Pemberley, ma'am. With who may I ask do I have the pleasure of speaking?I am Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy.**_

Lily squealed with delight, she mentally made a note to give Shawn the biggest hug ever tomorrow when she had breakfast with him and Gina.

_I, am, Miss Lily Evans, from Hogwarts. How are you Mrs. Darcy?_

_**I'm wonderful, but my understanding is this diary is about you, my dear friend.**_

_It doesn't have to be all about me, I'd love to hear about your life, too!_

_**I'm flattered, Miss Evans. Ask anything you'd like.**_

_Is Pemberley as grand as you remembered it?_

_**It's that and so much more. I'm quite happy with my situation. You have something on your mind**? _

_I'm pleased to hear it! Yes, I had an interesting conversation tonight with someone I despised not very long ago. He asked me why I hated him because I've been being nice to him lately._

_**Oh. Matters are settled now?**_

_Yes. We're friends now. I must admit that my friend, Gina, read the book you are from, as did I, and it and she helped me open my eyes._

_**I'm honored. Are you speaking of Mr. Darcy and myself?**_

_Indeed. The dislike you had of him from not knowing him well. Part of my dislike of Potter..err..James, I believe is from my not knowing him._

_**I did quite dislike him, I had my reasons, or so I thought. I just needed to better understand him, but to do that, I needed to better understand myself.**_

_Exactly. That is what I've gathered from the reading. I have applied it to me, not just with James, but to re-evaluate myself._

_**Bravo, Miss Evans. Just remember to remain true to yourself.**_

_I will Mrs. Darcy, I will. I need to get to sleep. I have class tomorrow._

_**Goodnight Miss Evans, may I call you Lily?**_

_Of course, Mrs. Darcy._

_**Please call me, Elizabeth or Lizzy. Whichever you prefer.**_

_Goodnight, talk to you soon._

Lily was exhausted but bursting with happiness on the inside from the excitement caused by her diary.

&&&&&

The next day would not be so great. Lily walked down to the common room and nearly fainted from what she saw.

&&&&&

Sorry to leave the cliff hanger like that! It seemed a good place to stop the chapter. The next chapter should be up fairly soon. Please review! Reviews let me know if I should keep writing or not. J


	8. Bacon and Tricks

**DISCLAIMER: Me no own Harry Potter or Pride & Prejudice. Tear, tear**

It makes me so happy to read reviews like that! It seriously makes my day better, and excites me to write more. Next chapter commences…

Chapter 8: Bacon and Tricks

"SHAWN!" Lily screamed as she raced to her friend's stiff body near the big lounge chair she loved to read in. "No, no, no! You have to be okay! HELP!!"

"Lily, really, it's too early to be yelling!" Gina bellowed as walking down the girl's dormitory steps to enter the Gryffindor common room.

"Gina! Get some help, it's Shawn!"

"WHAT?!?!" Gina screamed in terror and ran to see one of her dearest friends lying on the floor not moving. "Is he still alive?" she stuttered out, fearing the answer, with the tears starting to run down her cheeks.

"I… I can't tell. I think so. Stay here with him. I'm going to go get McGonagal," a clearly shaken Lily commanded, but to their luck someone happened to be coming down the boy's side of the stairs.

"Why, good morning ladies!" Sirius Black cheerfully greeted the two panic stricken girls, but upon seeing the situation he decided that the girls should stay there and that he would go get Professor McGonagal.

"Lily, I'm so scared. I really hope he'll be okay. Do you think he did this to himself?"

Lily started calmly, but by the end of her speech she was crying so hard her voice was not understandable. "I can't be sure, but most likely. He's been so upset, but this is not the answer. I wished he just would have talked to us. He's been so distant. We should have pressed harder. It's all my fault, I should have been a better friend!"

"I should have been a better friend, too!" Gina joined in with Lily and grabbed Shawn's hand staring intently at him.

Both Lily and Gina jumped when the portrait flew upon with Professor McGonagal speeding towards them with Sirius tailing closely behind her.

"Children, children! If you'll please move away from Mr. Austin. I need to examine him and get him to the hospital wing, immediately." Professor McGonagal demanded. "Mr. Black, will you escort these two girls down to breakfast?"

"But, professor! We want to stay with Shawn!" Gina insisted while still trying to control her tears.

"Yeah!" Lily echoed Gina's demands.

"Ladies, you will be of no use unless you can tell me or Madam Pomfrey the details. I'm sure that you cannot, or else you would have already. It appears Mr. Austin has only taken a sleeping potion that was stronger than he was aware. Please go down to breakfast, and go to your classes. You may see Mr. Austin this afternoon."

"Yes, professor." The blonde and red haired girls muttered.

And with that, Professor McGonagal used her wand to levitate Shawn into the air and transport him to the fourth floor, to be cared for in the hospital.

After McGonagal had left the common room and led the two girls over to the couch and put his arms around their shoulders. "Shh. Shh. Girls. Come on. Shawn's a tough old bloke. He's going to be okay. I'm sure it's all just an accident. Nothing intentional. Wipe those tears away. We could go dancercise in front of Shawn this afternoon! That'll cheer him up….and will get us thrown out of the hospital, but hey, it'll be worth it!"

Upon hearing this Gina and Lily burst into giggles. "That would, indeed, be quite a scene to witness." Lily responded, "Sirius, you don't have to escort us to breakfast, we can make it."

"Yeah, but thanks though. You can go down with James. He'll need someone to go with him. Oh and if you could wait for Jenny or tell Remus what happened with Shawn. I don't want to have to re-tell it right now."

"Oh, of course, my fair ladies! Anything to pleasest thou." Sirius bowed to Gina and to Lily and then ran back up the stairs to get the other Marauders.

"Oi! Marauders! Get your lazy bums out of bed!" Sirius commanded after pointing his wand at his throat to amplify his voice.

A colossal "AHHHHHH!" came from the mouths of the remaining three boys in the room, who were dreaming peacefully until Sirius woke them up.

"Padfoot, you are going to die an early death for that." A cranky Remus Lupin mumbled while punching his pillow.

"Can I help you, Moony?" James asked while throwing on some clothes not taking notice to grab clean robes.

"Peter, aren't you going to complain?" Sirius inquired.

"No, my insults aren't awake yet." Peter spit out in between yawns.

"Listen, Marauders. Shawn was found this morning downstairs in the common room unconscious. Scared poor Lily and Gina to death. McGonagal came and took him to the infirmary, she thinks it was only a sleeping potion mixed incorrectly. Just thought you guys should know."

James stood for a moment before answering. "That's horrible. We'll have to go visit him later." And thought to himself, "Wow, Lily's gut feeling was right."

"That is horrible news, but we can't let it ruin our day! Does Jenny know?" Remus directed his question toward the bearer of the bad news.

"No, Gina and Lily asked me to ask you to tell her. That's a mouth full. Phew."

James laughed at his best mate and declared, "Listen, I was thinking last night before I drifted to sleep from an absolutely amazing night, about some Halloween pranks. I've got some ideas, but I say today, think about some ideas and let's meet this afternoon to discuss. Halloween is next week. We need to be preparing."

"We also need dates!" Peter piped in excitedly.

"Dates?" James and Sirius said confusedly.

"For the dance! Duh!" Peter said as if it were the most important thing in the world.

"I've got one. I'm good." Remus smugly said. "That's the good thing about having a girlfriend, it takes the pressure off finding a date."

"Wait a minute, why did you have such an absolutely amazing night, James? Most nights aren't like that…" Sirius teased.

"Oh nothing except Lily and I are friends now. She apologized for being rude to me all of those years."

"I must admit, that is an absolutely amazing night." Sirius said in shock. "Gina knew what she was talking about," he thought to himself.

"And what about you and Miss Parks, huh huh huh? You were out awfully late last night." James decided to aim the teasing away from him.

"Oh! We just hung out, she fell asleep."

"That's it?" Remus asked expecting to hear more.

"Yeah. What's wrong with that? We talked. That's it. She's really cool."

"Okay. Friends, eh?" James prodded.

"Suuuurrrre." Remus sarcastically echoed.

A few moments later, Peter added, "Uh-huh!"

The other three Marauders looked at him and laughed. "Wormtail, that was a little off, but good try. You're getting better." James ribbed.

&&&&&

After eating a hearty breakfast…

"So he didn't even try anything on you? That's amazing!" Lily uttered in shock upon hearing the amazingly sweet details of Gina and Sirius's outing.

"I know, right? He was very gentlemanlike. It was very sweet. I don't know if he likes me or not, though. I don't want to assume anything." Gina said hoping to gain some knowledge by glancing down the table toward a certain Marauder. No luck from said glance, only a humorous picture. Sirius was fighting Peter for the last piece of bacon. Echoes of the conversation could be heard from anywhere in the Great Hall.

"Don't make me draw my wand, Wormtail. We all know who the better dueler is."

"Psh. Please don't make me embarrass you, Padfoot. Just let me have the bacon."

"Why can't you just half it, Sirius?" Remus inquired while ducking from the scrambled eggs that threatened to splatter him and Jenny.

"That won't do, Moony. Absolutely not. The bacon was closer to me to begin with, so therefore it is MINE! Eat cheese, Wormtail!"

"Sirius, don't you think this is ridiculous?" James asked, still in a great mood from the night before, but barely missed the cheese that whizzed past his ear.

Jenny beginning to fear for her robes and hair stood up and said, "Hey guys, before I die…or get food on me, I'm going to go talk to Gina and Lily."

No one seemed to hear her because they were too engrossed in watching Sirius and Peter now playing Rock, Paper, Scissors.

"Lily, really, look at them. It's so funny!" Gina giggled, hoping that Sirius would win.

"I must agree. Sirius and you, eh? I think it would be a cute couple? When's the wedding?"

Lily had never seen Gina turn the shade of red she did just then. "I, uh, what? NO! Lily! Not fair, okay. Maybe it is. I did that to you. Okay. Fair enough. No more though!!"

Lily only giggled. "Okay, okay. Enough about you and Sirius. I hung out with James last night. We had hot chocolate…"

Gina interrupted Lily the moment she comprehended that Lily said 'James'. "You just said, James? Did I hear correctly? No, certainly, we've had a traumatic morning, you must have said Potter and I just didn't realize it."

Again, Lily laughed. She knew Gina was doing that on purpose. "No, no, you are quite correct with what you heard. I said James. We agreed last night after the hot chocolate and the picture developing that we would stop using our surnames and use or first names. It sounds much friendlier, wouldn't you agree?"

"I definitely do. But, my word Lily, what changed?"

"I realized I had fun last night with just me and him. I realized that I needed to change some too, I was being immature and not being fair and was being rude. Maybe he's always been that way, but I never noticed."

"Wow, I'm truly speechless. I am. I'm proud, but speechless. But, how did this come about? I ..just..can't..believe it."

"Stop feigning shock! You opened my eyes to it…but he did ask why I was being so nice."

"Ahhh. Okay. Gotcha. Oooo look Jenny is coming to see us!"

"Wow, that is a surprise! She must be getting tired of Remus." Lily rolled her emerald green eyes as she sarcastically responded.

"Lily, she's just caught up in having a decent boyfriend. Be nice, please? The honeymoon will end soon and she'll come crawling back asking for her girl time with us and we'll open our arms and welcome her back."

"Hey Jenny!" Lily said a little to enthusiastically to be believable.

"Hey guys! Thought I'd come down here to avoid the massive war going on down there." Jenny said ignoring the tone in Lily's voice.

"We're glad you did, we miss you, Jenny." Gina sincerely said. It was true for her part. She did miss her.

"I'm really sorry to hear what happened about Shawn. I hope he's going to be okay."

"I think he will be."

"Yeah, me too."

"Uh, girls? Sirius looks like he is about to punch Peter over that bacon." Gina suggested pointing down the table.

"Paper does not beat rock, Padfoot!" Peter yelled.

"Yes it does, tell him Moony, Prongs!"

"Umm, we're staying out of this."

"Yeah, what James said."

"I know how to settle this," Gina said. "Wish me luck, because what I'm about to do may get me hurt."

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" Jenny gasped pretending to be scared.

"I fear it is the only way." Lily said while patting Gina on the shoulder, "here, you better grab your things and run like the wind when you leave and head straight to class. It's almost time to leave anyway."

Gina decided to walk towards the Great Hall doors and aim her wand at the plate that had the bacon in question. She hesitated for a moment and realized that if she said, "Accio bacon!" a lot of unwanted bacon would fly at her, more than likely. Giving it a try, she concentrated and said, "Accio _that_ bacon!"

Before she knew it, the bacon she had summoned was flying toward her. She grabbed it and ran towards herbology. It took Sirius and Peter a second to notice that someone stole their bacon. They both looked up at the same time and saw the distinct hair of none other than Gina Parks.

James stood on his seat and applauded Gina and added as a caution, "Run!"

Remus and he walked down to where Jenny and Lily were doubled over in fits of giggles and saw the, fleeting shadows of Sirius and Peter leaving the Great Hall.

"Let's go to class, but more importantly let's make sure my best friend is still alive." Lily said emphasizing the last few words and looking at Remus and James as if they would be to blame if it turned out to be otherwise.

&&&&&

"GINA WHATEVER YOUR MIDDLE NAME IS PARKS, GET YOUR ARSE BACK HERE WITH MY BACON!" Sirius yelled very loudly for the entire school to here.

"You have to catch me first!" Gina yelled back. "I just have to make it to the greenhouses." She thought to herself."

Peter decided to give up because he couldn't keep up with them. He turned back around and went back to walk with the rest of the group heading to class.

"Oh dear, he's almost caught me, and I'm not near enough the greenhouses yet!" Gina said in panic.

"That's right, be scared, be very AHHHHH!" Sirius had tripped. "OW! MY BLOODY ANKLE!"

Gina stopped and turned around, "Is this is trick?" she wondered. "Perhaps it's not."

She decided to turn around and go make sure he was okay.

"Sirius? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, my ankle, just landed on it wrong. Just give me a minute, I'll be okay."

"Here, I'll help you up." Gina offered and when she wasn't looking Sirius snatched the bacon from her hand with his mouth.

"MINE! Ha! Victory is mine! Oh it's so good!"

"That so is not fair!"

"Well, no it wasn't, but what you did wasn't fair either!"

"Okay, fair enough, is your ankle really hurt or are you just pretending?"

"It's not as hurt as I was letting on, but it is a little sore."

"Here, put your arm around me and I'll help you to get to class."

"Thanks, Gina."  
"Hey, what is your middle name? I realized when I was yelling that I didn't know it."

"Uh, that's random. It's Nicole."

"That's nice. Gina Nicole. It flows well."

"Yeah, sure it does. If you say so."

"You don't like it?"

"Not particularly."

"Why not?"

"I don't know..it just seems to common for me."

"I think it becomes you very well."

"Aww. Well, thanks."

"Hey, Gina?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing on Halloween?"

"Hmm, well, I suppose I'm going to dress up and go to the dance if anyone asks me, if not, I'll just sit in my room."

"That's gloomy, I'd hate for you to have to sit in your room on such a brilliant holiday."

"I appreciate your concern."

"Ow, ow, ow, easy, not to fast, my ankle remember?" Sirius said while leaning on Gina and continuing to walk.

"Oh, I'm really sorry! We're gonna go have that looked at as soon as class is over."

"Okay, you're probably right. Madam Pomfrey will have it fixed in a hurry."

"She is the best."

"Can you help me into my seat?" Sirius asked while looking up at Gina with puppy dog eyes.

"If you need me too. Do you need me to sit here and keep you company too?"

"Pwease. Herbology is such a dull class."

Gina giggled. "Okay."

&&&&&

After class Gina had some help getting Sirius to the hospital and his ankle was all better in a matter of time. Well more like the swish of a wand.

&&&&&

That's the end of that chapter! It was fun to write…the next one is going to be even more fun, pranks, the dance, the costumes, who's taking who?? Stay tuned for the next one. It will be up probably later today or tomorrow! Reviews are awesome!


	9. Halloween Week

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or Pride and Prejudice. Only my cell phone and laptop.**

Wow! You guys are the best! Thanks for reviewing and I'm really happy that you're enjoying the story. This chapter turned out to be much longer than I expected. Much much longer! I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 9: Halloween Week

Hogwarts sat perfectly situated for the upcoming Holiday. The castle was decorated beautifully. Chill drafts drifted throughout the darkened halls accompanied by a light fog. Bats flew about the corridors and spider webs dangled from the ceilings and covered the walls. And the suits of armor stationed about the castle rattled chains when students would walk by.

&&&&&

"So the game plan for the week is to have a prank for everyday leading up to the dance on Friday?" Peter asked his other co-conspirators known by everyone as the Marauders.

"Yes, that's the idea. Today will be pumpkin Monday." Remus said proudly. "I put the pumpkins in place myself."

"So when will they start to explode? It won't be as fun unless we can watch." Sirius cheerfully inquired.

"Well, I placed the pumpkins on hay bales to make them appear like the other decorations in the castle. The idea is to have them explode at a certain time when lots of students are present. So naturally I placed some near the Great Hall and in the dungeon and other high trafficked areas of the school."

"Very well thought out, Moony." James said and patted his friend on the back. "And to make things a bit more interesting, I charmed the pumpkins to splatter over a large area so everyone is sure to enjoy the fun."

Sirius added, "And I charmed the insides to be hard to wash off once the pumpkin has exploded and added an aging effect so the insides are sure to be rotten once the pumpkin exploding begins."

"Excellent!" Peter said while jumping up and down like a small excited child.

Remus checked the time and hurriedly said, "The first pumpkins start exploding in a few moments, come on, to the Great Hall!"

"You're going to breakfast without Jenny?" Sirius asked surprised.

"Oh, dang! That's right.." Remus stated. He was obviously torn and started to pout. "I worked so hard and nearly got caught by Filch and Ms. Norris a few times. I want to see!"

"Just go without her. Tell her you've got some stuff to talk over with us this morning." Peter suggested.

"That will have to work. I don't want her to know about the pranks. I doubt she'd get mad, but then she'd want to know about the others and I don't want to ruin anything."

"Okay, that's settled. Let's go!" James yelled and ran down the boy's stairs.

"Jenny!" Remus said in surprise when he entered the common room. "You beat us this morning?"

Jenny laughed at the way Remus said 'you beat us this morning'. "I woke up early and I suppose I got lucky!"

"Well, hey, dear, we Marauders need to speak about some private matters, so I'll meet you in class, okay?" Remus kissed Jenny on the cheek and dashed out of the common room before she had a chance to respond, which left Jenny confused but unquestioning.

Jenny decided to go back upstairs and wait for Gina and Lily, but to her surprise she found Taylor and Brooke in the room.

"Hey girls! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I know. I've been with Jay a lot." Brooke said while brushing her hair.

"Jay? But what happened to, I can't remember his name." Jenny asked without much care. She was only making conversation.

"Oh! That was so long ago. No I've been with Jay about a month now. He's the best ever. He's tall, dark, and handsome. He really is. Black hair, brown eyes, and brown skin. I think he's the one. He's a ravenclaw, so he's really smart."

Taylor snorted with laughter. "Please. You can't tell that he's the one from just one month. I can't even tell that with Stephen and it's been several months."

Taylor and Brooke didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things, which created tension among the girls a lot of times. Lily, Gina, and Jenny tended to side with Taylor on most things, even though Brooke looked to Gina to be on her side since they were childhood friends.

Brooke was ready to fight, "Just because you can't tell, doesn't mean that I can't. So why don't you shut your fat mouth and go be with your boyfriend and I'll go be with mine."

Jenny looked from girl to girl and compared them in her mind briefly to not think about the tension that was so thick that she could cut it like a loaf of bread. "They're complete opposites. Taylor wears little makeup, Brooke wears enough for the entire sixth year Gryffindor girls combined, Taylor dresses appropriately, Brooke doesn't. The only thing in common is their hair color. Both of them have dark brown hair."

Jenny snapped back to reality when Brooke made swift movements rolling her sleeves up to her shoulders and pulled her skirt above her knees and then stormed from the girl's dormitory to find Jay.

"Uggghhhhh! I can't stand her." Taylor yelled in fury. "Why does that stupid girl have to be in our year? She just causes unnecessary drama."

Jenny silently agreed and nodded her head, although she knew that Taylor brought on the drama that just ensued. Trying to change the subject, she asked about Lily and Gina's whereabouts.

"I was just talking to them a minute ago, but I don't think they left. They're probably in the bathroom."

"How are things with you and Stephen, good I hope?"

"Yeah, we're just taking things slow. We have our usual problems, but they're nothing big."

"That's good. Where have you been lately? It seems as if you are never in the room anymore."

"I've been staying the night with Stephen for about the past month, it'd be weird to not fall asleep next to him."

"Awww! That's so romantic. Remus and I have never fell asleep next to each other."

"Speaking of Remus, how are things with you guys?"

"We're as fine as ever it seems. He asked me to the dance last night, but that's about it. We spend a lot of time together. But, I miss hanging out with you girls."

"I know what you mean. Hey, how is Shawn doing? I heard about what happened. What was the problem?"

"He seems to be okay. I don't really talk to him as much as Gina and Lily do. They told me the cause was a bad sleeping potion. The ingredients were too strong or mixed inappropriately or something and it put him in a mild coma. He's okay other than that. He got out of the hospital yesterday or the day before yesterday. I can't remember."

"I'm glad to hear it. He's always been friendly to me. Have you ever noticed that he seems different? I mean, Gina and Lily are his best friends. Don't you think it's funny that he's not got any good guy friends?"

"I've never thought about it. But I think I know what you're getting at."

"Don't say anything to Gina or Lily. I don't want to make them mad."

"Don't worry, Taylor. I won't."

A few minutes later and Gina and Lily entered the room.

"Oh hey Jenny! What a surprise!" Gina cried out in amazement, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I live here, but if you mean why aren't I with Remus? He said he needed to discuss some things with the Marauders."

"Do you want to walk to breakfast with us?" Lily asked in a friendly tone with a smile.

Jenny was pleased at the invitation and happily accepted. Taylor denied the invitation and remained in the room a bit longer so she could meet Stephen later.

&&&&&

"The castle is so beautiful! The house elves have really outdone themselves." Jenny observed while admiring the decorations.

A passing group of Hufflepuff girls were giggling over the prospect of having a date for the Halloween dance.

Gina stopped and gasped dramatically and in the process grabbed Lily and Jenny's arms and scared them.

"What in the world is the matter?" Lily stared at her best friend as if she had grown an extra head.

"Yeah, seriously!" Jenny added.

Gina continued the dramatic poses and said while flailing her arms,"Lily, we need dates for the dance!"

Lily stared blankly at her and doubled over with laughter. "Was all of that really necessary?"

"I have a date, if that makes you feel better." Jenny said boasting the fact.

"Oh, hush! I was just kidding, but it is truth, Lily, that we do need dates."

"I suppose your right. We have a week though. That's plenty of time. We also need costumes."

The girls were about to walk down the stone steps to the Great Hall when a high pitched scream frightened them.

"MY ROBES! COVERED IN PUMPKIN…STUFF! MY HAIR! I'M GOING TO MURDER WHOEVER DID THIS!"

It was all the Marauders could do to not laugh at the seriously distraught girl. It was sweet to see their prank perfectly executing itself.

"I have no doubt in my mind that that was Brooke." Gina said before she could see what exactly had happened to her.

"Oh my gosh! What is that horrid smell?" Lily yelled with disgust evident in her voice.

As the three girls made their way down the stairs, they found the cause of the smell and why it was their fellow Gryffindor roommate yelled and screamed. Brooke was still oblivious to the perpetrators behind the prank.

"I think I know what it was the Remus had to talk to the Marauders about this morning." Jenny stated matter-of-factly.

"I think it's brilliant." Gina said in awe.

"I think it's brilliant as long as it doesn't happen to us!" Lily exclaimed while laughing so hard that tears were starting to form.

Gina and Jenny joined in the laughter and agreed. As the trio headed into the Great Hall, they shot approving glances toward the four Marauders, who were still lurking about the mayhem and taking in all the enjoyment to be had from the scene. The girls took their usual spot at the Gryffindor house table and were soon joined by the mischievous ones themselves.

"Let me be the first to tell you that that was the highlight of my year!" Lily said while glancing at each of the Marauders with an approving smile.

"We don't know what you're talking about." James said rather innocently and grinned. He then picked up his pumpkin juice and took a big gulp as if Lily had asked nothing but how the weather was.

Sirius continuing to play innocent said, "We would never…"

Remus emphasized, "ever…"

"Do that!" Peter finished.

After a brief pause: "For the sake of this conversation, say we did pull off that magnificent display of magical talent. I thought you didn't like it when we pulled pranks, Lily?" Sirius asked confused but with a hopeful look.

"Well, you could say that I've had a slight change of heart." Lily replied very cheerfully and then added, "I guess I can make exceptions where that female we have no choice but to room with is the butt of the joke!"

The table laughed and James said after the laughter had died down that he found it amusing how much Lily disliked her. He was happy that Lily wasn't mad about the prank.

"Some of it's the way she tries to control Gina, trying to hang on to a childhood bond that used to be there, and the fact that she is so jealous of our friendship, but it's also the way she carries herself…" Lily was saying but was interrupted by Professor Dumbledore silencing the Great Hall.

"Students, students. If I could please have your attention for a moment. The breakfast will still be there momentarily. I think you will all enjoy what I intend to tell you."

The students all whispered excitedly as to what Dumbledore could tell them.

"It is good news for those able to attend the dance, however, something for the rest of you to look forward to one day. In honor of the festive week ending with the dance, classes today have been canceled for you all to go to Hogsmeade and find your costumes. However, if you are not old enough to attend the dance, please go to class as scheduled. That is all." After finishing his speech Dumbledore was not surprised to hear the Great Hall erupt with cheers and sad cries from the younger students.

"Dumbledore is the most awesome headmaster ever!" James yelled excitedly. He whispered low but quickly to the other Marauders about something and all the girls could hear was "costumes, pranks and something that sounded like firewhiskey."

Lily, Gina, and Jenny pretended to not hear what they were saying because they technically couldn't hear all of it.

The whispering stopped. "Would you ladies like to walk with us there?" James offered politely.

Jenny answered immediately but Gina and Lily decided to poke fun at them.

"I don't know James." Lily started, "Gina, can we really afford to be seen with this lot?"

Gina was startled to hear Lily use James's name, as were the others standing by even though everyone knew they were trying to be friends. "Well Lily, it's certainly risky. This might lessen our chances of getting dates for the dance."

It was becoming hard for the two girls to not laugh. Lily continued, "I see what you mean. That is a good point."

The Marauders looked hurt, astonished, and offended all at once, or at least for James and Sirius.

"I think it's a chance we should take. I think we'll be okay." Gina said while giggling.

"Please don't sound too excited." Sirius said sarcastically.

James agreed. "Yeah, I mean, we don't want to bring you any harm socially."

"Of course we'll go with you!" Lily finally said to the immense delight of James, and Sirius too.

"We were kidding all along." Gina said.

"We knew." James, Peter, and Sirius said in unison.

"Sure you did." Lily said and smiled.

"I'm tired of sitting here, let's go!" Peter requested to the surprise of everyone. He usually didn't speak out.

&&&&&

The group headed out of the castle and walked down the path the led toward Hogsmeade, experiencing a cool breezy day. The leaves on the trees were turning to autumn colors and were beginning to fall to the ground. Lily noticed on her way out that Severus Snape was sitting under a tree writing in a book. She decided to walk over to say hello; she made an excuse that it was someone other than Snape to the Marauders because she knew that it would cause drama that she would love to avoid if at all possible.

"Hey Severus." Lily greeted scaring the greasy haired boy.

"Lily. What? You're talking to me?"

"Yeah. I miss talking to you."

"I miss talking to you more than you could even imagine."

Lily ignored the way the Snape said that and said, "I can't stay long, I'm on my way to Hogsmeade with the Marauders and Jenny and Gina."

"Does _Potter_ know you're talking to me?"

" No, he doesn't. I know how you both love to see each other, but for the sake of a brief hello, I decided I wouldn't tell him."

Lily noticed that this upset him.

"Look, Severus, we've had this discussion before. I'm not in love with James Potter. We're just trying to be friends right now. We had a big discussion the other night and I told him that picking on you would be like me picking on Sirius Black."

This seemed to make him relax a little bit. "I see."

Lily decided to shift the subject away from James Potter, "Why are you working on homework on our day off? Aren't you going to go get a costume for the dance?"

"It's not homework! I'm just tweaking some things in my potions book. Just some things that I noticed work better."

"Oh, yeah, you were telling me about that. If you ever want my input, you know where to find me!"

Severus laughed, "I know, Lily. I know. I am heading in to Hogsmeade later, I'm just waiting for some people to get here."

"Ahh. Okay. What costume are you going to get?"

"I'm not certain, what about you?"

It was Lily's turn to laugh. "I haven't honestly given it much thought. Be wary of Marauder pranks this week...I think they're planning something every day."

"Thanks for the warning, but I can take care of myself."

"It was just a friendly warning. I'm sorry to offend you. It was kindly meant."

"I'm sorry Lily. I'm just a little stressed at the moment."

"It's okay. If you want to talk later, just send me an owl or come find me or something of that sort."

"I may just do that. Thanks a lot Lily."

"It's no problem at all. That's what friends are for. I'm sorry to cut our chat short, but I have people waiting for me. I'll see you later Severus!"

And with that, Lily ran back toward the others looking over her shoulder to wave goodbye again.

Snape sighed to himself and thought, "If only she could and would return those feelings for me that I have for her. I'd do anything for her."

&&&&&

"I want to be a princess!" Sirius bellowed while skipping along.

Everyone roared with laughter. "Mate, I'm worried by that comment." James uttered in concern.

"What? Why? Don't you think I'd be a pretty princess?" Sirius said pretending to be hurt.

"I think you would be a beautiful princess, the best looking in all of England." Lily joked.

"Thanks, Lily. I'm glad someone agrees. Then, that means, you could be my prince and we could have our costumes picked out!"

"Lily's long red hair, and curvy chest, would make her an excellent prince, Sirius." Jenny added to the conversation.

"Remus, what do you think?" Peter questioned.

"I find it strange. I keep thinking I may need to re-arrange our sleeping quarters." Remus responded with an over dramatic air, which caused more laughter.

The walking group had assembled itself in pairs. Remus and Jenny were leading. James and Lily were in the middle, and Gina and Sirius were trailing in the back. Peter was out to the side near James.

"Oi, Moony! What are you going to be?" Sirius called out to Remus.

"Do tell, Moony. I'm anxious to hear. Are you and Jenny going to go as something in pairs?"

"We don't know yet." Jenny answered before Remus could answer.

"I was thinking something about being a detective."

"Huh?" Sirius, Gina, James, and Peter all said in unison.

"You know, like Sherlock Holmes?" Lily added to help.

"Exactly, Lily." Remus said with a smile.

"But what is it?" Gina asked with encouragement from James and Sirius.

"It's someone who solves mysteries."

"Oh!"

&&&&&

The group finally made it into the costume shop and was browsing around, it wasn't very crowded.

Sirius eyed a princess costume intently but was dragged away by Gina but not without much protesting by the handsome marauder. James noticed and commented that Remus may be right about changing the sleeping arrangements.

Remus came upon a werewolf costume but passed it quickly and this didn't go unnoticed by the other Marauders. They were sending sympathetic thoughts his way.

Jenny found a Greek goddess costume and fell in love with it. "GINA, LILY!"

"Look what I found!"Jenny exclaimed shaking it with glee.

"It's beautiful!" Gina said, jealous she hadn't found anything she liked.

"That's going to be gorgeous on you! I'm jealous!" Lily added.

The costume was an antique white. It was flowy and silky and draped over one shoulder and went to the ground on one side with the other side slightly higher.. It wasn't very form fitting but loose. It came with gold embellishments and the proper jewelry to accessorize.

Gina gasped and got the attention of the girls. A Zeus costume was nearby.

Remus was all she said and then pointed. "REMUS!"

The marauders came running this time.

"No. Absolutely not. I'm not going to wear that. It's essentially a skirt."

"But it would be so cute to see you and Jenny go together in these outfits!" Lily said trying the sad puppy face.

"It's got lightning bolt throwers it says and thunder effects." Gina added trying to help

Remus finally agreed to the delight of the girls. "I'm only doing this because it's got the lightning bolts!"

"I want to go for a walk, but we'll meet you guys later!" Jenny said and grabbed Remus and the costumes and left.

Peter decided on a skunk costume, for whatever reason. It blew the minds of the others, but he was impressed that it had a stench operating mechanism. He was quite excited.

This now left James, Lily, Sirius, and Gina to find their costumes.

Lily and Gina went off looking and saw their friend Nick Tucker, seventh year Gryffindor and head boy. Nick was a handsome guy, highly intelligent, brown hair and blue eyed. He was very fond of potions. He was grabbing a vampire costume.

A few more minutes of looking and Gina screamed loudly enough for people at Hogwarts to hear, which brought James, Sirius, and Lily running.

"I've found it! My costume! It's this nineteenth century dress, like the ones described in our book, Lily!"

"It's so pretty! It's perfect, Gina." Lily exclaimed with a big smile. "Too bad you don't have a Mr. Darcy to go with it."

"It's got the way to fix your hair, the gloves, all of the under fittings! Everything but the Mr. Darcy."

"This is why you screamed?" Sirius asked obviously confused.

"Yeah, I don't get it." James agreed.

"Ooooo Lily look! Another dress! We could go as twins! Well not exact twins because one dress has navy over things and this one hunter green. You would look fabulous in the green one."

"And you in the navy!"

"So you want to?"

"Yeah!!"

"We're just going to go over here and keep looking." James said while glancing at Sirius.

"Ooooo James, look, look. It's amazing!" Sirius said in his girlish voice clearly making fun of Gina and Lily, and with that walked away to continue looking.

"Now if we only had our Mr. Darcy's." Lily said.

"I feel like Jane Bennet and you're like Lizzy Bennet, except with red hair. So therefore I would need my Mr. Bingley and you Mr. Darcy."

"It's a shame we can't make them come out of the book to escort us to the dance." Lily said.

"I know." Gina sadly muttered.

&&&&&

"Prongs, who are you taking to the dance?…as if I don't already know." Sirius said questioningly not hiding a huge grin.

"I would like to ask Lily. Do you think she'd say yes?" James asked with hope in his eyes.

"I'd like to think she would. That's who I thought you were going to ask. My only advice is to ask her before anyone else does."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Who are you taking, Padfoot?"

"Well, I haven't asked anyone yet, but I think I'd like to take Gina."

James grinned and said, "Just as I suspected. You know, I find it odd that Lily is nice all of a sudden. I don't mind, it's just different."

"It's nice though, most definitely. Oh James…do you see those costumes?"

"I think I know what you're thinking. But breeches? Sirius…would you really want to wear that?"

"I mean, if we get to take the girls we want, we'd be dressed correctly to accompany them, and we could carry canes and wear big top hats!"

"I see what you mean, and most importantly they would be thrilled, I think. I have an idea!" James exclaimed with his eyes lighting up.

"Do tell, my good man."

"Let's get these costumes, but not tell Lily and Gina."

"Okay, I was going to do that anyway…but please continue, I see that you're not through."

"We need to do this tonight so that we can ask them before anyone else does. Send them an owl telling them to go to the dance with us but not tell them who we are and tell them to meet us at separate locations and then we can join up somewhere."

"That's a really good idea, but they're both smart girls. They probably won't accept an unknown person to go to the dance with; they'll think it could be a trick."

"Hmm, I didn't think about that. Well we could still sign the letters as us and just tell them to meet us."

"I bet they'll think it sweet to get asked by owl."

"They're girls. Of course they will."

&&&&&

"I wonder what James and Sirius's costumes are." Lily said while sitting on her bed arranging pictures in an album.

"I don't know. They didn't want us to know obviously. I wonder who they're taking to the dance?" Gina said trying to sound uninterested.

"Well, I'd be willing to bet that Sirius is going to ask you." Lily responded and then said, "Hey, what's that tapping noise?"

Gina got off her bed and let two owls into the room, one flying to her and one to Lily.

"This is exciting!" Lily exclaimed, "I wonder what it could be!"

The girls opened their letters and both said, "Aww!" Both letters said essentially the same thing, but with different names.

_Miss Lily Evans/ Miss Gina Parks_

_I would be most honored if you would attend the upcoming dance with me. Nothing could bring me greater pleasure than having you at my side. I hope that you will give this consideration and will meet me in the Gryffindor Common Room this Friday at 7:30 p.m. _

_Mr. James Potter/ Mr. Sirius Black_

Lily and Gina loved that they were asked in this way. They found it very sweet and could in no way refuse an offer like this. They grabbed some parchment and a quill and responded that they would love to meet them.

"I can't believe I'm consenting to go with James Potter. Wow." Lily said astonished with herself. "I have come a long way."

"You have, Lil. You definitely have. I'm very proud of you…and totally excited for this dance!" Gina said jumping up and down. "We're going to be the prettiest girls there with the most handsome guys!"

"No doubt, my dear, no doubt!"

&&&&&

When James and Sirius received their responses from their respective girl, they tried to hide their excitement, but couldn't fool Remus. Peter felt depressed that he didn't have a date, but had his eye on a fifth year Hufflepuff girl.

"Tomorrow we execute the Headless Horseman prank?" James asked for confirmation.

"Yes. The idea is that the image is going to chase unsuspecting people and scare them. Completely harmless." Sirius said obviously quite proud of his handiwork.

&&&&&

A little bit later another owl came to Lily. It was from Snape requesting to talk to her outside of the portrait.

As Lily was about to go out of the portrait Shawn was sitting by the fire.

"Hey, Lily."

"Hey, Shawn."

"How are you?"

"I'm fantastic. How are you?"

"I'm doing okay. Hey can I ask you something?"

"Sure, I can't stay long though, I've got to meet someone."

"Okay, if you're not going to the dance with anyone, will you go with me?"

"Oh Shawn, I'm flattered that you asked me, but I'm afraid that you're about an hour late. I just accepted to go with James Potter. I'm really sorry."

"It's fine, James, huh? You're friends now?"

"Yeah, strange, huh? I'm glad though. It keeps me calmer."

"Is Gina going with anyone?"

"Yeah, she just accepted to go with Sirius Black."

"Wow, I've missed out on a lot of stuff. I'm so out of the loop! Sniff." Shawn said jokingly.

"It's understandable though. You've had a tough time lately. Things will get better."

"I know. I'm not mad about the dance though Lily. I just wanted to go with someone I was comfortable with, which is basically you and Gina."

"Aww, thanks. Well, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'll see you later though."

"Okay. See ya."

Lily exited the Gryffindor Common Room and saw Severus Snape approaching her.

"Hey Lily!"

"Hi Severus. What's going on?"

"I was wondering if you would go to the Halloween dance with me?"

Lily's face turned a ghostly white and then went to rosy cheeks from blushing. "Oh, Severus. I'm really sorry, but someone else has already asked me and I accepted. If you had only asked me earlier."

She didn't want to tell him who she was going with because she knew it would upset him. But the dreaded question couldn't be avoided.

"It's okay, Lily. I understand. You're a very pretty witch. Any guy would love to go with you. Who's the lucky guy?"

Lily blushed, "Thanks, you're too kind. You're just saying that."

"No, really, you are."

Lily tried to say her next few words quickly so that they would not hurt him as much, or so she hoped: "Thanks. Umm, I'm going with James Potter."

&&&&&

**Oooooh. Poor Snape. I feel bad for him. Lol. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Please review! And the next chapter will be up soon. I'll start working on it later. It will be the Halloween dance.**


	10. The Dance With the Punch

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of this by JK Rowling or Jane Austen. ******

**Gosh, have you ever just had a period where you're really excited to write something, so therefore you think about it every day, but then when you go to write it…….stuck. That's my story. Writer's block. I've been so excited about this chapter (and even more so about the upcoming chapters) I just didn't feel like I could get my vision across…and glares evilly at the computer Microsoft word decided it wanted to close and for some reason the recover function didn't work. So….most of what I had written..grr..disappeared. **

Chapter 10: The Halloween Dance

"I can't believe we're actually wearing these…these….neck things tied in weird knots." Sirius complained to James while looking at his fully dressed self in the mirror.

"You know, that I think they're called cravats, right, Sirius? Stop complaining! I don't think it's all that bad actually. The pants are a little uncomfortable, but I think we look highly sophisticated." James said trying to encourage Sirius.

Remus didn't like his costume much and told the two, "At least you're not wearing a skirt!"

James and Sirius looked at each other and laughed while watching their dear friend sulk. Peter, on the other hand, kept to himself while the others laughed and had fun. They tried to tell him it wasn't a skirt, but it only caused them to laugh harder.

"What's wrong, Peter?" James asked, concerned that something may be wrong with him, in between laughs.

"I can't help but feel that tonight isn't going to go well."

"You're just nervous. She's just a girl. She's not going to bite you….too hard." Sirius said grinning mischievously followed by his signature bark like laugh.

&&&&&

"Let's go down, we both look beautiful, and I'm anxious to see what was so hush hush about the boys' costumes that they couldn't tell us what they were dressing up as!" Gina exclaimed jumping up and down causing the curls hanging around her face to fly everywhere.

"Okay. I think we look perfect. The white gloves were a nice touch." Lily said complimenting the idea that Gina suggested.

"I'm really happy that you're going with James, Lily. It's really nice of you. Hopefully Snape won't cause any trouble."

"Aww, thanks, dear. I'm surprised with myself. I've been having an okay time with Potter. And if you tell anyone that, I'm going to cause you a most painful death." Lily said lowering her voice to a low sinister sound and finished it off with an evil laugh.

"Uhh, well then, ummm, on that note, shall we go down?" Gina said in short uneasy sounding phrases.

This caused Lily to laugh so hard that tears came to her eyes. "Yes, yes. Let's go see who or what awaits us."

&&&&&  
To say Lily and Gina were excited at the surprise they received when they reached the bottom of the stairs would be an understatement.

A collective high pitched AHHHHH followed by jumping up and down and hugging ensued. This amused James and Sirius and they used the hugging as a perfect opportunity to make a inappropriate remark asking them to continue if they wished.

Lily gushed on and on about how handsome they both looked and Gina added they looked very gentlemanly.

James and Sirius pretended to be embarrassed and flattered, part of the rosy cheeks were actual flattery and modesty, but they were just excited the girls were so happy.

"My fair ladies, shall we be leaving?" James asked while extending his arm to Lily with Sirius mimicking his move.

&&&&&

James and Lily were walking just barely in front of the other two and were having a nice conversation until Lily noticed that James stiffened up a bit and began to walk funny.

"Lily, you look amazing tonite. I just thought you should know." James sincerely said while looking over towards Lily, which caused the faintest tint of pink to grace the red head's cheeks.

"Why, thank you, James. You look very handsome too. Maybe if you dressed like this every day, I'd have gone out with you." Soon after those words escaped Lily's lips she realized how horrible they sounded. And then she realized that she basically said, 'hey. I like you." That's not at all what she meant.

James didn't exactly know how to respond to that so he said, "Wow. That's the first time I've complimented you and you haven't rolled your eyes. Come to think of it, that's the first time I've been complimented and put down in the same sentence."

"I'm…I'm sorry, James. I didn't mean it like that."

A feminine cough could be heard from behind, which caused Lily to laugh and James too once he figured out that Gina was trying to ease the tension. Her and Sirius had been having a similar conversation of the common niceties and flattery.

The four of them reached the Great Hall and entered garnering stares from everyone. Compliments were flying at them from all around, except from the Slytherins.

Lily happened to look over to a corner and saw Severus Snape standing with a Slytherin girl. He felt eyes on him and once he saw who it was, he shot Lily a nasty glare. This of course upset Lily, but James soon cheered her up when an upbeat song started playing and James dragged her onto the dance floor to dance.

James would pick Lily up and swing her around and spin her until she made him stop because of dizziness. Although Lily was having a blast, she was also sweating profusely and begged them to sit down somewhere.

"James, will you go get us some punch?" Lily asked very sweetly.

"Umm, no. You insulted me earlier. I think I won't." James said, trying to sound offended but was having a hard time fighting off a boyish grin.

Lily was shocked and felt horrible until she saw that he was kidding. "Please?"

"Don't use puppy dog eyes on me, Miss Evans. They will get you nowhere."

"Am I flirting with James Potter?" Lily thought to herself and grinned which earned her a funny look from James. "Pretty please with uhh…chocolate flavored Bertie Botts beans on top?"

"Nope. I'm not budging. Sorry."

"Mr. Potter. I'm appalled with your behavior, sir. You are supposed to be a gentleman, and right now, you are certainly not being one." Lily cried in a lighthearted jest.

"Ahh, indeed you are right, but I have reasons, you know I do." This remark really caused James to grin.

Lily decided to try an old trick. "OH!! The heat! I feel faint!" she exclaimed while moving around in her chair.

"Ha ha. That's not going to work."

Upon hearing these words Lily decided to fall over. That got James to move….out of the way so she wouldn't hit him.

He laughed heartily when she hit the floor, although he did offer a hand to help her up. Are you okay?"

"You, you, imbecile, you prat! You let me hit the floor!" Lily yelled enraged.

"Well, let's just state the obvious, Lily. You did it on purpose though. I think you know me well enough to know I would have caught you if you had actually fainted. "

"I know." Lily couldn't help but to laugh, "But really, well now, will you go get me some punch?"

"Of course, Miss Evans. Nothing would bring me more happiness." James uttered and bowed to Lily and walked away.

Lily wondered where Sirius and Gina had ran off too. She snickered to herself, "Probably a broom closet, knowing Sirius. Well, not Gina though. I don't think they've kissed? Mental note to self ask her…."

"LILY!" a voice shouted at the pretty little redhead.

Lily looked up to see Gina running at her with a smile etched on her pretty pale face. So Lily shot her a questioning glance.

"What's that look for?"

"Oh nothing."

"Uh huh. I was just coming to see how you were doing and if you were having fun."

Lily giggled. "Yes, I'm having an amazing time! James and I danced earlier and it was fun. So…..why the big smile?"

"Ohhhhh. That explains that look. Well. This is like the most perfect night ever. I actually got asked to go to something by someone that I wanted to ask me, I'm in the perfect costume, my date is in the perfect costume, and we're having a blast dancing!" Gina said in one breath, taking a large breath afterwards.

Lily was a little disappointed. "Oh dang. I was sure you and Sirius were off snogging in a broom closet somewhere."

This caused Gina to laugh. "Well, not exactly. Sorry to disappoint you."

"So have you and Black kissed?"

"No….you know I would tell you if something like that happened!"

"Shh. James and Sirius are coming over here."

"Here you go ladies. Nice cool punch." Sirius offered when he got to them.

After both Lily and Gina had three more glasses of punch they were ready to go back dancing.

A slow song came on and it was a little awkward, but James positioned his hands on Lily's hips. It took a few seconds before Lily could relax."

Lily noticed that she was beginning to feel a little different. Maybe James wouldn't notice.

"Hey James."

"Hmm." James was caught up in holding Lily so close. He rarely hugged her so this was like bliss for him.

"I'm really sorry about earlier. If I hurt your feelings I mean."

"It's okay. It was funny. You just basically said my clothes were ugly and I should wear these suits to be attractive."

James was teasing Lily, but she didn't realize it just yet. "No no no no no no no. That's not at all what I meant."

James was beginning to wonder about that punch that Lily drank. He had thought about spiking it, but didn't. Maybe some one else did…"Oh, right, you said you would have gone out with me if my clothes were better. Excuse me, my mistake."

If Lily would have looked James in the face she would have noticed the smile playing on his lips but she felt to horrible to look up at him. Lily sighed in frustration, "You know that's not what I meant James Potter," looking up at James she immediately went from feeling bad to mad because she saw his smirk. That smirk she's disliked for so long. She proceeded to hit him but when she did she tripped on her dress and maybe a little combination of the punch, she started to fall but fell into James and was caught by him.

"Err. Thanks." Was all she could mutter and then began laughing at herself.

"I love teasing you, Lily."

"I've noticed." Lily said with a slight annoyance in her voice. "Will you get me some more punch?"

"Umm. Well, I think you've had enough punch for a while."

"WHAT?" Lily yelled, earning stares from people around.

Before she could accuse him of doing the deed, he defended himself. "Yeah, I haven't tried any, but I think you may feel a little funny?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Just years of observation, my dear." This seemed to satisfy Lily, and for the first time tonite, James noticed Lily's necklace.

"Hey. Where did you get that necklace?"

"From your mother, for my birthday."

"I've got one like it, but I don't wear it. It seems too nonsensical if you ask me."

"Well, I don't believe in that either, but I thought it wassss pretty. OOooooo can we walk outside and ssssee if we can find myyy ssstar?"

James laughed to himself. Lily Evans. Slightly intoxicated. Him perfectly sober. Wow. He definitely wasn't going to drink any punch now that he knew that Lily was a little drunk. He didn't want to do anything that would make Lily feel uncomfortable.

To James's surprise, Lily jumped up and grabbed his hand and pulled him outside to go searching for her star.

&&&&&

Meanwhile, back with Sirius and Gina all types of dancing had been witnessed by the crowd by those two. They were really having a great time.

After they were through dancing, Sirius drank a whole lot of punch, obviously not noticing the effect that it had had on Gina.

"Let's go outside! It's too hot in here!" Gina suggested noticing that she felt a little off balance. She had to drag Sirius away from the punch bowl.

Sirius finally consented and went outside to a spot under a tree by the lake.

Sirius began rambling nonsensically when he grabbed Gina's hand and held it. It sent chills all throughout Gina and made her unspeakably happy. She wasn't sure if she should bring it up or let him do it.

With her cheeks very much flushed Gina said, "I really had a lot of fun with you tonite, Sirius, and you were the best looking ones there…well except for James and Lily.

Without any warning whatsoever, Sirius turned and grabbed Gina and kissed her on the lips. Gina was hesitant at first but then returned the kiss. This went on for a few minutes when Sirius pulled back.

"Wow. You are an amazing kisser. You have officially made this night perfect for me. Thanks."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all! You are very pretty and escorted me to the dance and we're sitting all romantic life and kissing you felt like it should happen."

Gina found the way that Sirius had said that a little odd. "So…."

"So what?" Sirius asked, obviously not very concerned about much of anything right now. Other things were clouding his judgment.

Gina decided to leave it at that. He apparently would have mentioned something about them if he wanted too. She wasn't going to bring it up.

After the kiss, things became awkward….the kind of silence that you wish you can avoid….until Sirius began to sing incoherently.

Gina was very disappointed and upset. Her heart was happy because she did like Sirius and she wanted this to happen and thought he did too, but now she was at her wit's end trying to figure this out.

&&&&&

Lily emitted a hiccup which caused James to erupt in laughter. "Is my necklace glowing James?" Lily asked as her and James were walking around the lake.

James thought it was very romantic, a moonlit stroll in the forgotten romance of a past century. "Uh wait a minute, no, nevermind, it's just the moonlight."

Lily was very adamant about wanting to find her star. She demanded that James should wear his and find his star. It never crossed her mind that something could happen if that scenario ever played out.

"Lily! Your necklace, it's glowing!" James exclaimed excitedly.

Lily looked down to discover he was lying and she could hear him laughing. "James, that is not nice!" Lily said frustrated with him, so frustrated that James Potter suddenly found himself needing a new change of clothes.

Lily fell over she laughed so hard. "AHHAHAHA! Lily Evans gets the last laugh! HA! You can't trick me….Oh James, you can stay in the water, you don't have to get out." Lily added after her gloating, James didn't look mad, but he did look like he was going to seek out revenge.

Lily's perceptions were correct because James announced that he was coming after her and she should better run.

Lily ran as best as she could but her shoes made it a bit difficult, plus James could run much faster than her. It wasn't long before James began to tickly her madly sending Lily into fits of laughter. "James, please, stop! I'm ticklish! This isn't fair!"

"I'll show you not fair!" James yelled and swooped Lily of her feet into his arms taking her dangerously close to the edge of the lake. He pretended to drop her a few times. He finally let her down when he tired of her screaming in his ear.

Lily was so grateful that he didn't drop her in the water that she hugged him a little more forcefully that she meant to and sent them both toppling backwards onto the hard grass covered ground.

James laughed at Lily for being clumsy and was waiting for when she would get off top of him. Some, err, dreams popped into his mind, but he quickly shook them away. This was not the time or place for thinking of that sort of thing.

However, James looked up and noticed a brighter than usual star and then looked at Lily's necklace. "Lily, we've found your star."

"If you're kidding me, I'm, I'll, I….I'll," but all Lily could think of is how close she and James were and the position she was in.

James noticed the look on Lily's face. It was a look of deep thought and then it dawned on him what she was thinking when Lily started to move in closer to his face…to his lips…what he's desperately wanted to happen for forever.

Lily's mind was in a fog. She knew what she was doing. Or at least she thought she did. Maybe it was the punch. It had to be the punch. This would be ludicrous. "But why can't I stop my lips from moving towards his? Why do I want this to happen?" she thought to herself.

Before she could do anything James pushed her off him and hastily changed the subject to "Lily look at your necklace!"

This seemed to distract her because she squealed in glee. She told James to remember this spot in case she forgot.

"Oh look, it's Sirius and Gina!" Lily happily exclaimed skipping towards them.

When the two got close enough to them, it was plainly obvious that Gina was not happy and Sirius was, well, he could barely stand on his own.

"See, Lily, if you had had more punch, this could have been you." James joked while helping pick Sirius up off the ground.

On the way back to the rooms, Gina explained why she was upset and Lily tried to comfort her the best that she could and James decided it would be best to remain silent.

&&&&&&

The next month was homework filled so everyone stayed busy for the most part. Jenny and Remus had broken up but got back together after much pleading from Jenny. The complaint was that Remus had found her too clingy and he felt he was treating his other friends poorly, so a compromise was made.

James wasn't letting Lily live down her accidental drunkenness from the Halloween dance, but he wasn't doing it so that it was annoying. Unfortunately for Lily, although some things are hazy, she remembers almost kissing James, this is something that James conveniently seems to have forgotten. It finally concluded with her deciding it was the punch and shouldn't be worried about. Her and James are just friends. She still has moments when he's not her favorite person, although Sirius was taking that place and fast.

Gina was miserable however. Her and Sirius usually were hanging out quite a bit, but now she was quite certain that he was ignoring her. She decided that he just has a lot on his mind so maybe she was overreacting. "He probably doesn't even remember the kiss."

The longer that the ignoring went on, the more strain it put on Lily and James's friendship. James, Lily, and Gina got along as well as normal, but if Sirius were around he would be quiet. If Gina wasn't around, then Sirius was as playful and talkative as ever which infuriated Lily. Out of loyalty to her best friend, Lily stopped hanging around them whenever not necessary.

&&&&&

It was a early December night in the Gryffindor girls common room where Lily found Gina crying.

"Gina! My love, what is the matter?" Lily asked praying that it was not news of a death eater attack.

"It's Sirius, he still doesn't even acknowledge that I exist anymore. I can say something to him and he won't answer. Lily, I can take it if someone is mad at me, but ignoring me is something that just tears me up inside."

"I know dear. He's a royal git. I don't know what his problem is."

"Did I do something Lily? Did I say something? I keep racking my brain but nothing is coming to me."

"You didn't do anything. He's just a git. And he's dumb, and …"

"Lemme guess, he doesn't know what he's missing out on?"

"Exactly."

"But I say that about you and James…"

This caused Lily to shift a little nervous, unnoticed by Gina. "Err, well, that's different. We're just friends."

Gina paused for a second. "Yeah, I know. I won't say anything else."

"You shouldn't cry over Black. He's really not worth it. Maybe he'll come around. Maybe he's just having a bad time." Lily said hoping her words comforted her crying best friend. She didn't want to tell her that Sirius acted perfectly normal when not around her.

"I know what let's do!"

"What's that? Kick Black below the belt?"

"Well, that would be sufficient, but what I had in mind is a little less violent!"

"Haha, what's that?"

"Hot chocolate!"

"Thanks, Lily, but I think I may puke if I drink something sweet. I think I just want to go down to the common room and walk around for a bit. I'll be back up later."

&&&&&

James heard footsteps coming down the girls side of the stairs and looked to see who it was. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat when he finally saw who it was.

"Oh, hey Gina."

Gina wasn't expecting anyone to be down here, so she jumped at the sound of a voice. "Hey. What are you doing down here?"

"I'm reading, and this is my home….."

"Obviously. Hey can I ask you something?" Gina questioned while thinking of a solution to her sadness.

"Sure." James said a little nervous at what was coming.

"Why is Black ignoring me?"

"Well…"

&&&&&

**YAY! Finally got the chapter up! I'm gonna try to write the next one later today once I get some sleep or maybe tomorrow or the next day. I'm pretty happy with this. The Gina/Sirius bit is kinda sad…something similar actually happened to me this summer. I'm moving back to college tomorrow and I haven't really packed yet…err….umm….yeah…lol. Wish me luck and please review! If I get lots of reviews I'll be really happy! And..i'll bake cupcakes for everyone! ******


	11. Uncertainty

**Eeeeek****! I'm really sorry it's taking me so long to up****date! I know I said like three**** weeks ago I'd have an update ready****…College has been so hectic. I've been studying so much! I still haven't seen most of my friends. I never dreamed it'd be this busy so early on! Okay…to make up…I'm posting 2 chapters! ****Hope this makes up for my negligence.**

**You guys are awesome! Thanks for the reviews!! They make my day better!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't Harry Potter affiliated items and or any other thing that you may recognize**

**Chapter 11: ****Uncertainty**

"Gina, please don't cry. Sirius is just a major toe rag. You know what you can do so much better than him." Lily said while trying to comfort her friend. She really didn't know if she could say anything to make Gina feel better. When matters of the heart are concerned, it's nothing easy to soothe.

"I know Lily, but I just can't stand that he's ignoring me! More than anything I enjoyed being friends with him. It didn't matter if we would have dated or not. I mean it would have been nice but…" Gina trailed off, shifting her legs as a sign that she was uncomfortable.

Lily patted her on the back and pulled her into a hug and said, "I know, I know."

Lily was alarmed when Gina went from being sad to raging mad in an instant, but she knew that Gina did this when something really bothered her. She looked around the common room to make sure nobody else was around. It didn't matter to her, but she thought Gina may regret it later. All of Gryffindor was used to girls yelling about a certain member of the Black family.

"THE NERVE OF _BLACK_!" Gina spat out, "Honestly. Getting cowardly when he thought I liked him…so the best that he could do was to run away and hope the problem fixed itself. He gave me every reason to believe he liked me! He even kissed me! Ugh."

Lily just looked at Gina sadly. Sirius had really ticked her off. He had no reason to be acting like this. "Gina Nicole Parks. From this point on out. No more crying over that sleaze ball. Deal?"

Gina looked at Lily for a moment before saying "deal" in a not so convincing tone.

"Thanks Lily."

"For what?"

"For being here for me."

"You don't have to thank me for that!'

"I know, I just appreciate it. Are you still up for coming to my house the week of New Years?"

"Um. Well let me see…uhhh…duh!"

"Yay! I know! I'm so excited! We're going to have so much fun! No more thoughts of Black!"

"That's my girl!"

&&&&&

A little later Remus and Peter entered the common room to find Gina and Lily sprawled out on the common room couches.

"Oh hey girls." Peter said fairly cheerfully.

Remus echoed his manners. "How are you tonite?"

"We're doing just fine." Gina said through gritted teeth, attempting to convey politeness.

Remus chose to ignore that and the puffy eyes and continue talking. "I'm glad to hear it. Say, you guys haven't seen Jenny have you?"

Lily and Gina looked to each other and then back to Remus. "We were wondering the same thing, except ya know, we were going to ask you. Because we haven't seen her at all today, and that is definitely unusual."

"Maybe she just needed some time to herself. She does that occasionally. I get like that too, so it's understandable." Gina offered trying to be of some use. She had a funny feeling that Remus and Jenny were not going to be Remus and Jenny much longer.

"Yeah." Remus said nonchalantly.

"Umm, Remus. I know we're not that great of friends, but if you'll pardon my asking. Is everything okay with you two?" Lily questioned having the same thoughts as Gina.

Gina added, "And, Jenny isn't one to be open about things so we never know if anything is bothering her. We just want to make sure she's okay."

"I, well, we. Err. James and Sirius will be here shortly if you want to….," but before Remus could finish the sentence, sure enough, the door leading into the Gryffindor common room opened revealing the two persons previously mentioned.

Remus, Peter, Lily, and James watched as Gina made eye contact with Sirius. All were afraid a colossal explosion was about to happen. Gina looked furious but remained silent. The tension in the room at that moment increased ten-fold. Sirius refused to look at her again and proceeded to his room without saying anything to anyone.

To everyone's surprise Gina just stood there in shock, did not cry, scream, laugh, anything but slowly turned and walked out of the common room. That's not to say those emotions weren't apparent on her face, but most of all she just wanted answers.

James called after her, and she stopped momentarily to hear him out. "_What?"_

"I'm, uh, really sorry about what just happened."

"I thank you for your kind words, but you should not and cannot apologize for what your arse of a friend has done."

Gina gave one last look at the other Marauders, a look that dared any of them to say something to her again. For their sakes, they picked up the hint and left her be. She walked out of the common room knowing that Lily would follow.

And Lily did follow Gina after sending evil glares toward the remaining Marauders. She felt loyal to Gina and unfortunately for the Marauders, they had to endure this cold treatment she called loyalty to Gina. That is, until she realized she was being unreasonable. She was basically giving them a taste of what Sirius was doing to Gina, right?

"Nothing unreasonable" she muttered as she tried to justify her actions in her mind.

&&&&&

The Marauders were tired of Sirius being a shady person so therefore decided to confront him.

James started the confrontation while sitting on his four poster in the sixth year Gryffindor boys bedroom. "Padfoot, you're my best mate, and I know this is extremely selfish, but I'm tired of you ignoring Gina. That poor girl. She doesn't know what's going on."

"That's not selfish." Sirius replied rather moodily. He didn't like that his friends were doing this, he knew he'd do that same though...

"You haven't let me finish. Well, Lily is being mean to me, all that progress we made is way out of sight just because you're treating her best friend like scum."

"Seriously, Sirius. If you don't like her then you just need to tell her. Which now, I don't even think that's necessary. I'm sure she's gotten that idea all on her own." Remus chimed in.

"James, you're absolutely right. You too, Remus. I just, got the feeling she wanted a relationship and ignored her. I know that's not the best thing to do but.."

GASP! "He spoke words that made sense!" Peter uttered nearly falling off the bed.

This was perfect comic relief because the air surrounding the boys was so tense that not even the sharpest of knives could cut it easily.

"Sirius, you have to talk to Gina soon. Even if it's just to say hi. I don't want Lily mad at me for something that you've done." James spoke after the laughter had subsided.

"I'll come up with something. Err. Thanks mates. This has been on my mind, I just, well, you see, maybe, I think this is the push that I needed."

"Finally. I was beginning to think we may have needed to smack you upside the head!" Remus screamed in a tone of relief and satisfaction. Followed by more laughter.

"On a lighter note," Peter began, but Sirius finished, "we need to get some pranks ready for the students of Hogwarts as a little reminder that the Marauders are still around."

James looked around at the other three and began, "So, now that you mention it, I was thinking…."

&&&&&

Sometime before the week to go home for Christmas, the Marauders found a little time to bewitch some Christmas trees to jump out and sing carols to anyone who passed by. Occasionally the trees would hug people. Mainly Slytherins, but others were included.

Lily and Gina were walking down the corridor on the second floor when they heard something that reminded them of being highly annoyed. They approached ever cautiously to see what the commotion was all about.

Much to their delight, Regulus Black was struggling against a large Christmas tree that was comically singing a medley of seasonal carols. "Argh! I'm going to hex my no good brother and his friends the next time I see them!"

No matter how hard Regulus struggled the tree refused to let go. Lily and Gina peeped around the corner while trying to suppress their laughter to get a better look.

"What do you think he has to do?" Lily asked while inching farther out around the corner.

"I don't know but is it bad that this makes me happy even though I know the Marauders did it?"

"Hahaha Gina, it's perfectly fine. Just because you dislike Sirius doesn't mean his other friends are guilty too."

As Lily said what she did a look of realization passed over her face.

She was surprised to see Gina laughing at her now. "You too, huh?"

"You know, I hate it when you are vague."

"Yes, but I love it, because I know it frustrates you!"

"OH! Yeah, I guess my advice was good for the both of it. I guess we both have been pretty mean to the other Marauders."

Meanwhile, Regulus was yelling obscenities that would make even James Potter blush.

"Wow, the boys went all out for this! This is amazing. I should compliment them sometime in the future!" Lily said while continuing to think of how Regulus could get out of the trap.

"Maybe he has to sing with the tree?" Gina suggested while looking at the tree that was now swinging the black haired Slytherin about.

"I don't know, but let's go. We'll let him figure this one out on his own." Lily said much to the amazement of Gina.

"Wow! Lily Evans denying the cry of a student in need, what has this world come to?" Gina mustered a big smile and stared at Lily who looked defensive.

Once Lily saw Gina was teasing she offered a funny piece of unfriendly advice and led them back to the girls dormitory to finish packing for the holidays.

&&&&&

Fortunately for the girls, the remaining days of school before Christmas were Marauder free. Both of the girls knew an apology needed to be extended to the boys, minus Sirius, but they didn't want to apologize. Pride issues were behind it all.

Gina felt like it had been a year since she had really talked to Taylor, and this made her sad. "Taylor, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas break! Owl us every once in a while and we'll do the same!"

"Definitely! Okay, love you girls! Be safe!" Taylor bid the girls bye and went to board the train to presumably find her other half, also known as Steven.

"I guess we missed Brooke. Darn, and I didn't even get to tell her bye." Lily said while rolling her eyes using a fake nice voice.

"LILY!"

"What?" Lily asked innocently and proceeded to bat her eyelashes which caused Gina to laugh.

"Okay, I think I've got everything." Gina stated while looking the room over once again. "What about you, Lily?"

"Yep, I do believe that everything is in order. Do you want to leave early, to avoid certain, I mean get a good seat on the train?"

Gina laughed and replied affirmatively. For both reasons. She had come to the conclusion that she didn't care if she talked to Black anymore, she just wanted to avoid an awkward situation. Of course, the next time she saw Black her heart would drop once again.

Lily also wanted to avoid James. She knew that she had put a damper on their friendship, but not that that bothered her or anything (or so she told herself). She remembered that he had given her a pleading look in class, but she just turned her nose up to him earning a sad and confused look from him. Now that she thought of it, it seemed that James was avoiding her.

&&&&&

The girls made it to the train station safely with no run-ins with anyone they wished to avoid. They did manage to find Jenny sitting by herself in a compartment and joined her.

Jenny finally opened up to her two best friends about everything. "Girls, I want to apologize."

Lily and Gina looked at each other confused but let Jenny continue before interrupting her.

"I'm so sorry I've basically dropped you two this semester. I've missed you so much."

"It's okay, Jenny. We've missed you too." Lily said with a sincerity that warmed Jenny's heart.

Gina added, "We just want to make sure you're okay. But we knew you were happy."

"Keywords being, were happy."

This caused another glance to pass between Gina and Lily.

"I'm not sure that I want to be with Remus anymore. He's great…he really is. He was my first real boyfriend, which is why I unintentionally dropped you two. I just got caught up."

"You need to do what is going to make you happy, Jenny." Lily stated matter-of-factly, "Remus is a great guy, he knows something is wrong, but if you talk to him about it, I'm sure he'll be very understanding, and maybe you guys could still be friends."

"Yeah!" Gina piped in trying to be encouraging.

"Well, see, I know I need to talk to him. Ever since we broke up and got back together, I feel like I've been getting on his nerves. So I've been being distant. The problem is in the time I've been being distant….I've been hanging out with this other guy. I think I may like him."

Of all the things Jenny could have said, this is not something that either the blonde or red head were expecting. After the initial shock, the excitement set in.

"Do we know him?"

"What house is he in?"

"What year is he in?"

"Most importantly, is he cute?"

Jenny took a deep breath, "Wow, you guys. Slow down. This is strictly between us." The two girls nodded their heads to promise their secrecy and let Jenny continue, "He's a seventh year Gryffindor."

Gina and Lily gasped in excitement. "Who is it?"

"Nick Tucker."

"THE HEADBOY?!?!"

Jenny blushed. "Yeah."

"Hmm, well this is tricky." Gina stated as if it weren't obvious enough.

"When are you going to tell Remus?"

"Well, I just don't know. I don't want to ruin his Christmas break."

"But…Jenny…I know what it feels like to not have answers and I think it's more painful than knowing the truth no matter how hurtful it may be."

"Gina is right" Lily said while glancing over at Jenny.

"I guess you guys are right. Thanks for being so supportive."

Both girls said in unison, "No problem!"

"Okay, so I'm going to hang out with Remus once over Christmas and see how it goes and then decide."

"I think that's a good idea." Lily agreed.

"I think this break is a life saver for so many people. I know that I was about to explode if we didn't get away from Hogwarts when we did."

Jenny and Lily both wholeheartedly agreed with Gina.

&&&&&

"I'm going home with you directly from the station, right?" Sirius asked James who was in and out of consciousness.

A very groggy James answered yes and tried to go back to sleep but couldn't with the constant chattering of Sirius.

"I was having to most wonderful dream Padfoot. Lily was actually speaking civilly to me." James cried out in frustration since Sirius wouldn't let him sleep.

Sirius grinned and cast a guilty look at James.

"Sirius, I'm just curious…" Remus started saying when Sirius butted in.

"Well, I'm Sirius, curious, nice to meet you.." which earned him a stern look from Remus who was trying not to laugh at the corniness of his joke.

"Why did you start to ignore Gina? I thought you liked her. You've never ignored girls before who you thought like you. You only led them on even more."

"I, well, I really don't know Moony. I haven't thought about it. For some reason however, it felt like that's what I had to do."

"You have got to apologize over this break. You have no say. At the New Years party my parents usually have every year. We'll invite the girls."

Sirius looked at James and uttered, "Yes, mommy dearest."

&&&&&

As the train came to a stop at Kings Cross the break plans were finalized.

"Moony, Wormtail? We'll be seeing you in a few weeks. Keep in touch."

"Yeah, sounds good. See you guys." Remus said while setting off to say bye to Jenny.

Peter said his goodbyes and scurried off to his mother.

"JAMES! SIRIUS! MY BOYS!" Melanie Potter screamed as she saw her boys come into view.

She immediately kissed them and hugged them tightly, much to their embarrassment.

"I bet you boys are starving! Let's get you home!"

&&&&&

The girls decided the same, said their goodbyes, and said they'd keep in touch. Lily was to go to Gina's house a few days before New Years and Jenny was supposed to see if she could come also.

As Jenny was about to go to her mother's car, Remus came up and wrapped his arms around her pulling her into a tight hug.

"Hey…" Jenny said feeling a little uncomfortable.

"I just wanted to say bye before I left. We'll have to owl each other to see when we could hang out sometime."

"Yeah definitely. Just owl me your plans and I'll do the same and maybe I can see you before we have to go back."

If Jenny was uncomfortable now, it got even worse as Nick came up behind her, pulled her away from Remus and told her bye. Her cheeks turned a slight shade of rose which didn't escape Remus's notice.

He pretended to not notice and awkwardly told her bye again and left to go find his mum.

Jenny was left standing more confused than she had ever been in her entire life.

&&&&&

Okay. Chapter 1 of 2 for promised update! I've got class at 8 in the morning and its 1:37am right now so I need to get some sleep, but the next chapter will be up sometime tomorrow.

I had plans for this chapter to go up through the new years party, but this seemed like a good place to stop. I hope this isn't too bad, it kinda sets up the stage for the next chapter.

Hope everyone is well and liked the chapter! Please review!

Gina


	12. Pre Party Jitters

**As promised…the second chapter! I have plans for good things to happen in this chapter! ****Mwahaha****Lol**** Hope you enjoy!**** OH! Btw, I hope everyone is doing well in school or work or whatever it is you do!**

**Thanks for the reviews! I love you guys and I'm so glad that you're enjoying my story!!!!!**

**Chapter 12: ****Pre-party Jitters**

Lindy, the house-elf for the Potters, was taking particular care to spoil James and Sirius over this break. Even though things were awkward between James and Sirius at the beginning of the break, without the females around to distract them, things were as good as ever.

One morning at breakfast Mr. Potter, actually home from his job, sat surrounded by his wife, son, and Sirius. "Boys, tell me about your semester! I'm sure you couldn't have got into that much trouble. McGonagal hasn't owled us once!"

"I'm pretty much top in all of my classes. They're probably going to promote me to head boy any day now. I do everything in the school, and I'm not even a prefect!" Sirius barked out causing the others to laugh heartily.

Gary Potter decided to play along. "I see. That will be a monumental moment in Hogwarts history to have someone who isn't a seventh year be Head Boy." He turned to look at James, "Son, you should be more like Sirius. He seems to have become quite the excellent little pupil."

Before James answered he took a moment to take in the smell of his kitchen, the sight of the family together, and appreciated every moment of it. Trying to be as un-sarcastic as possible, he answered, "Oh yes, all hail the magnificent Sirius!" followed by a small bow.

"HEY!"

The Potters laughed at Sirius, who was pouting to himself. Mrs. Potter decided to get up and give him a hug. "You know we love you, Sirius."

With a smug little grin, Sirius replied, "You have to because it's a law!"

"Ahh, of course. I forgot about that one." Mrs. Potter said as she feigned a 'how could I forgot look.' "James, How's Lily doing?"

Of all questions that Melanie Potter could have asked, this is the one James wished his mother didn't ask. He tried to change the subject slightly.

"I suppose she's doing well. Haven't you heard from her mum?"

"Occasionally, but it's not the same as someone who's went to school with her. I thought you two were getting on well?"

"We're friends, if that's what you mean. We've always been that. It's just taken her a little while to realize it." James said while trying to not roll his eyes.

Sirius chimed in, "That's an understatement!"

Mrs. Potter looked at him questioningly and decided to let the issue go. "We're having the New Year's Eve party this year. You can invite some of your friends if you want. Would you be a dear and invite Lily's parents when you send her an invitation?"

"What makes you think I'm inviting Lily?" James thought to himself. He was still sore from the way she'd been acting as of late. However, all he could do was say he would.

Sirius's mind was running in overdrive when this conversation was taking place. If Lily was going to be at the party, it was absolutely certain that Gina would be with her. He still hadn't talked to her and really didn't know how to begin. What could he say to her without her exploding at him?

&&&&&

Before Gina knew it, Lily was arriving at her house the Thursday before New Years. The girls were ecstatic to see each other.

"Gina! It's so good to see you! I've missed you so much!"

"I know Lils, I've missed you too!"

"Did you like your Christmas present?"

"I loved it! Did you like yours?"

"Absolutely! Will Jenny be joining us?"

"Yes. Not today but in a few days. I hope she makes it here before New Years!"

"Why is that?"

Gina smiled wickedly, "Because…New Years Eve! And…I have a lovely bottle of something from a cousin."

"Oh man! Sounds like we're gonna have a blast!"

"Darn right we…" Gina started to say but looked around to observe the knocking sound coming from her window.

"Looks like somebody loves you!" Lily said just kidding around.

Gina opened the window but not before shooting Lily a not so friendly look. Her demeanor brightened when she saw who it was addressed to. "It's for both of us!"

"From who?"

"James Potter!"

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, it says he's having a party on New Year's Eve and we're both invited. Oh and you're parents too."

"I think my parents already have plans that night."

"Well, do you want to go?"

"Umm…."

"Lily?"

Lily hesitated a bit longer. She had been wanting to talk to James. To apologize. She hated to admit it, but she actually missed his company.

"Yeah, but won't it be awkward for you?"

"Of course it will, but remember, you said I shouldn't let it bother me. So that's exactly what I'm going to do—not let it bother me."

"Do you think Jenny will come?"

"I don't see why not. I wonder if her and Remus fixed things."

"I haven't heard. She hasn't owled me once this break. I guess she's trying to figure things out."

"I just hope she does what is going to make her happy."

"She will, she will."

After relaxing for a while and having quality girl time, Gina remembered that she had left the invitation from James unanswered. She was a little afraid to attach a letter to the leg of the owl because it did not look happy for having to wait so long.

"We need to owl back a response. I'll let you do it, since I'm sure James will go weak in the knees when he sees your handwriting." Gina said, smiling afterward while flinching waiting for the expected slap from Lily.

"Are we back to that again?" Lily said, shaking her head in disapproval.

"I'm afraid so." Gina responded back with a big grin.

&&&&&

James didn't want Sirius to know that he'd been waiting for Lily's answer all day, but Sirius being his best mate knew James all too well.

It wasn't long until James's wait was put to an end. He had mixed emotions about knowing that Lily would be coming. A mixture of anger and happiness. It was an odd feeling.

Luckily, Remus and Peter were coming the next day to help prepare for Saturday night's big party. They would take his mind off things. He hoped.

&&&&&

The next day, the four Marauders sat in James's bedroom talking and catching up. To all of their surprises, Remus opened up to them.

"Guys." He sighed. James, Sirius, and Peter knew he was upset.

"What's wrong, Remus?"

"Is it time for the full moon again?"

"Hungry?" Sirius added as an afterthought.

"Well….I really don't know. It's Jenny. I just don't think I feel the same about her."

"That could be problematic." Sirius stated.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"Oh, I can, Moony. Ya see there was this girl, and she was awesome. She started to like this guy and the guy got scared so he didn't do the right thing and pissed the girl off."

Everyone looked at Sirius and James said, "That's your problem, which by the way, sounds like you feel guilty about."

"Err..perhaps the tiniest bit."

"Guys? Remember me? The brains of the organization? The one who helps you not get into trouble?"

"Oh right, sorry Moony!" Peter squeaked out.

"I think Jenny likes somebody else. We hung out once over break and it just didn't feel right. I didn't even want to kiss her."

"So I take it you didn't?" James questioned, feeling sorry for his pal.

"No. I don't know if I'm upset that I think she likes someone else or what?"

"Sorry, mate, but this is something that you best figure out on your own. You really need to talk to Jenny." James suggested, not wanting to involve himself in others affairs of the heart.

"I will. When I see her at the party."

&&&&&

When Jenny finally arrived at Gina's, Lily and Gina didn't ask anything about Nick or Remus. They knew Jenny well enough to know that if she wanted them to know something she would tell them herself.

All she said on the subject was "I'll let you guys know something as soon as I know."

Before going to bed the girls decided to play the age old game, "Truth or Dare."

"Who's up for a game of Truth or Dare?" Lily asked a little too excitedly for Gina and Jenny. They were both pretty shy.

"Uh..sure." They both replied very unconvincing.

"Hmm, okay here's the deal. To make it fair, we each get to give each other a dare and a truth and you can't back out of it, but the dares can't be anything dangerous."

This seemed to relax Gina and Jenny and they finally agreed.

Gina nominated Jenny to go first.

"Ummm, Lily. Truth or dare?"

"Dare! Bring it on baby!"

"I dare you to, hmm, to run around the room saying you love James Potter!"

The look on Lily's face was priceless. The very thought of saying that sickened her, or was that some other feeling beginning to surface?

"No, I refuse to say that."

Gina called her out, "Uh. Miss Evans, you, correct me if I'm wrong, were the once who said you couldn't back down."

"Oh fine."

Lily began to run around her room screaming, "I LOVE JAMES POTTER. I LOVE JAMES POTTER. I LOVE JAMES POTTER."

She sat down , slightly out of breath. "Satisfied?"

"Extremely! Mwahahaha!" Jenny said shocking her two friends.

It was now Lily's turn to pick somebody. "Gina. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Have you ever done anything you weren't supposed to do with a boy? If yes, what?"

"Hmm, no. Not that I'm aware of anywho. Nice try though Lils."

Gina called on Jenny next and made her reveal a secret. Jenny answered that she probably liked Nick a little more than she should.

The game continued on like this for a bit longer when the girls decided to go to sleep since the party was the next day.

Before Lily went to sleep she remembered her diary and felt guilty that she hadn't written in it in so long. She went to her trunk and rummaged through her items, as quietly as possible, and pulled it out.

"_Lily!"_thediary wrote on the page the instant she opened to a fresh page.

"Lizzie I'm so sorry I haven't wrote to you in so long."

_"It's quite alright, Lily. How have you been?"_

"I've been well, but I've been being rude to someone who doesn't deserve it."

_"Have you apologized?"_

"No, but I plan on it, at the right time, that is."

_"At least you know what you should do. Is this person by any chance, Mr. Potter?"_

"Yeah. How did you know?"

_"He seems to be the only reason you write in here."_

Lily blushed at the thought. She did have a point though. "Well, his best mate ignored my best mate after making her think he liked her. So I kinda took my anger out on the rest of this toe rag's friends. James included."

_"I see. That is horrible__. I was rude to Mr. Darcy once because I thought he had wronged someone. __That horrible Mr. Wickham.__ However, I hope that you're friend is unlike that braggart."_

"To some extent, I see some similarities. But, I would have to say that I think Sirius is better than him."

_"I'm glad to hear it."_

"I've got a lot to do, but I promise I'll write again soon. Thanks for talking with me."

_"It's always a pleasure. Sweet dreams __be__ with you."_

Lily was beginning to get anxious about the party. It was going to make things better, or far worse than they've been.

&&&&&

**YAY!! I kept my promise of updating today! ****It's**** a few hours later than I thought it would be, but it's still today. **** Wow. ****Two chapters in one day.****Lol**** I'm proud of myself. My writer's block is slowly disappearing. Okay****..enjoy****! I've got some homework I've been procrastinating to d****o before I go to sleep. R&R! **

**Goodnight everyone! I'll try to do another chapter ****tomorrow****or very soon)**** if I get time..****but**** future homework assignments may inhibit that. **


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